Me after finishing the Fast Freddie Five Mile Foot Feast – New Albany, Indiana
Race: Fast Freddie Five Mile Foot Feast
Place: New Albany, Indiana
Date: November 27, 2014
Time:38:15
One does not simply Turkey Trot in New Albany, Indiana. Oh no. Not here. In New Albany…we have what is known as a “Foot Feast.” What, pray tell, is the difference? Nothing. But, why trot for turkey or dash for drumsticks when you can simply feast on everything!
I love the Fast Freddie Five Mile Foot Feast. Regardless of the weather being atrociously cold most Thanksgiving mornings around here, when all is said and done…I adore this race. It is, literally, right outside my door. Held at the 4-H Fairgrounds right across the street from my apartment complex. It doesn’t get any more convenient than that. It remains the least stressful race that I run…every year.
So, leave it to me and my Type A, Virgo mind to stress me out.
First of all, the night before Thanksgiving is always…I repeat…always super busy for me. This year, I was preparing desserts to take to dinner. But first, I needed to pick up my packet at the 4-H Fairgrounds (which I did on my lunch break), then, after work, traverse traffic over to Frankfort Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky to pick up my special holiday order from Annie May’s Sweet Café. Gluten-free stuffing and gluten-free croissant rolls awaited. There was no holding me back. And…it was the eve of a race. And while Cathy and I almost went to Jason’s Deli for soup that evening, we instead ended up across the parking lot at Blaze Pizza. Keeping with tradition…gluten-free pizza the night before a race. I think, in the end, it made me feel a little more at ease noshing on a thin-crust gluten-free and vegan pizza.
Afterwards, we were winging back to the apartment so that I could start baking my gluten-free and vegan marbled pumpkin cheesecake and start putting together pink salad…for desserts the following day. It took up the rest of the night and I found myself shifting things in the fridge much later than I would have liked, but getting both the cheesecake and the pink salad inside. Tight fit…but they were in and chilling. That was the important thing.
Tea…then sleep.
I slept really well, waking up around 6 a.m. with the coffee brewing. As I didn’t really need to be in any big rush I just sort of ducked into my closet and started pulling out what I was going to wear. Capri pants, my thermal top with the turtle neck, and compression sleeves. Done. I dressed. I glanced out the window to see if I could see the finish line set-up going on. What greeted me next, however, was SNOW. S-N-O-W.
“Awww…hell!” I said.
I think I kept hoping that it was an illusion or a dream…but each time I checked…the white stuff was still there. I ate breakfast when my roomie staggered out…which consisted of cereal. Then, after puttering around for a little while (which I should have been stretching), my roomie went to go and prepare herself for spectating. She came back out and walked over to the front door, pulling it open.
In rushed this cold, wintery gust of air that literally blew right through me. I sat up from the rug I was just lounging on. “Oh. My. God. Do I need another layer?”
She shrugged and went back into her room. And I was left to ponder the age-old…how to dress for this race problem.
Joy.
After a lot of back and forth, while Cathy suited up in 5 layers to stay warm…I decided to suck it up (gluten-free) cupcake and just wear the top I had on. I could keep my fleece on until go time. And with Cathy bundled up and me really not wanting to step outside…the time had come to make our way down to the 4-H Fairgrounds. Just a short walk across the parking lot of our apartment building. But in the cold air…not as much fun.
Our downstairs neighbor was unloading stuff from her car and she saw us and asked if I was running this morning. I told her I was doing the 5 miler right across the street. She wished me luck. We continued down toward the road and a window of one of the vehicles parked in the drive of the apartment complex rolled down the window. It was Art from my spin class. He and his family were doing the run too. We talked briefly and he introduced me to his wife who was really curious about my marathon running. And then…he went to stay warm for a few more minutes and I went over to the base camp…the fairgrounds.
Runners were huddled together trying to keep warm. I noted who the elite runners were. This is evident by their lack of clothing on seriously cold days…the singlets with the short-shorts. And walking around like it’s really 90 degrees out and we’re just all big babies. These, friends, are people who win races. I am NOT one of these people! Remember, I debated an extra layer. So, I stretched, because I forgot to do it in the warmth of my apartment, and not soon after, Freddie was having everyone fill up the street because this race starts at 9 a.m. SHARP. I joined the masses and moved up toward the front of the line, without being in front. There was still some traffic trying to come through, so we made room. Some brave souls ran sprints through the cars. I just stayed off to the side and tried to stay warm. I had shed my fleece jacket at this point. And with the wind, it was biting cold that morning.
Finally, the cars cleared and we spread out. I moved more toward the other side of the road. Fred let us know that he would give us the on your marks command and a whistle. This year…he blew the whistle.
We were off.
I was not running this year for time. I couldn’t. Not with the foot problem, the broken toe, and the lack of running (except for crazy distance races) since July. Honestly…I took so much time off this year, I felt like a freakin’ tortoise as we started up the first hill to go over the overpass. I usually incorporate this route in some way, shape, or form, in my training in the summer. But as I wasn’t allowed to run all freakin’ summer…the route felt brand new to me. You’d think my legs would remember it. Well…maybe it was the icy cold morning, but…they felt like they had never run it before.
As we crossed over the interstate, there was a patch of ice on the overpass. Everyone near me started yelling “ICE!,” so I did the logical thing and quickly moved away. I sprained my ankle last year and required physical therapy after slipping on ice. I’m done with injuries, okay? Freakin’ done. I’m still working on the recovery. So…yeah…I moved. Down the hill and to the light where we make our first turn. One mile…done.
The rolling ups and downs of Mount Tabor road are what we are greeted with. It feels good, now that my legs have warmed up that first mile. I wish I could say the same for me. I could no longer feel my face. I wasn’t even sure it was still attached. Pressing on, I took the hills as I usually do…with power. I figure, I want to earn the downhill recovery, I’m going to best the hills. And these weren’t bad. Nope. Mile 2…done after turning onto Grant Line Road.
Grant Line Road takes us to Sam Peden Community Park. We duck inside near the fire department. This is where the water stop is located. I think most people decided it was too cold to deal with water as more people than usual just ran right past the group manning the table. We head up an incline and it levels off (no downhill) to take us around the park. At the path where the 2-mile walk cuts across…is Mile 3. Two more to go. And we now get to the most difficult part.
After Mile 3, you get this small, steady incline to take you to another leveled off spot. Here, you round the corner and go through the gate at the other end of the park. A lot of people who live in the apartments there came out to cheer. One guy shouted, “All the kings horses and all the kings men…” I don’t know what that means, but he was clapping and shouting, and it was needed. Exit park on a nice downhill. Then start your first of three hills. Schell Lane is a beast. A freakin’ BEAST!
I actually have always embraced the challenge of Schell Lane. I don’t know why. I hate running hills…and that’s all this road is. Three uphills and two downhills with a nice downhill waiting as you turn the corner and hit Daisy Lane. I ran Schell Lane like I always do – with intention. And, I loved heading up that last hill and seeing these kids out in the yard screaming, “GO RUNNERS!” as we all worked our way up the steepest of the climbs, to earn our reward…a flat segment leading into the turn…then the nice downhill.
Running down Daisy Lane makes you feel so free and alive. It feels so easy because it is one hell of a downhill. It takes you right into that 4th mile. I actually peeked at the clock as I ran past the mile marker. I knew I was going to have a slower time this year. But, I figured that going into it. Time to just make that last mile count.
Down to the traffic light and make the turn onto Green Valley Road. You’ve come full circle almost. Only half a mile away is the finish line, back at the 4-H Fairgrounds. I run this stretch a lot. I know where the rolling hills are. And yet…at this point, my feet wanted to do little in regards to getting me to that finish line. It was the cold weather. My body hates cold weather. My muscles just don’t fire the same. But, I turned it on and gave it my best push and soon, I was rounding the corner to the drive of the 4-H Fairgrounds and pushing hard to the finish line, with Cathy screaming at me from the sidelines. There were very few spectators out this year. I think the cold weather kept them inside.
But…finish I did. I dropped the bottom tag of my bib into the raffle box and went to grab some water. Cathy met me on the other side of the main hall and we debated whether to stick around for awards or not. Traditionally, we do. And if you do place in your age division, Freddie says you have to be there to claim your award. That’s just how he does it. So…after debating on whether to go shower and get ready for the drive to Corydon for Thanksgiving or to stick around, I finally decided to stick around…at least for a little while.
This turned out to be…of little use this year. There was a timing mat issue…which they were working on resolving. So, they went ahead and gave out some of the raffle drawing awards. And then they did the top three male and female finishers. No new faces there. Not this year. The first male finisher, Ben Hubers, finished in 25:05. The first female, Sarah Peace, finished in 28:14. The times were slower this year and a lot of that was on account of the cold weather.
Me with Santa after the Fast Freddie Five Mile Foot Feast – New Albany, Indiana
Anyway…they finished up the raffle and then Fred announced that they were still sorting out age division awards, so they would have that posted on the Web site and if you won an age division award, you could pick up your award at Pacers & Racers on Grant Line Road for a week. After that…they were gone.
So…as it turns out, I ran this years Fast Freddie Festive Five Mile Foot Feast almost 2 minutes slower than last year, finishing with a time of 38:15. I was 152/928 finishers this year. I was the 26th female to cross the finish line. And lo and behold…I was 3rd in my age division. Go figure. So, the one year they aren’t able to do the awards at the race is the year I actually place. And I did it running slower. How does that even happen?! Needless to say, I went over to Pacers & Racers that Sunday to pick up my award. It was a mug. AWESOME!
Anyway, I am already looking forward to next year’s Fast Freddie Five Mile Foot Feast and can’t wait to see what I can accomplish. Maybe I can at least beat this year’s time. HA! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!
Me, dressed as Venellope von Schweetz, at the staging area of the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon – Orlando, Florida
Race: Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon
Place: Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida
Date: November 8, 2014
Time:1:50:09
I’m starting to think I angered the running gods somewhere along the way this year.
Seriously.
Because before I go any further, let me start with these two words for you:
BROKEN TOE!
You read that right. My first night at Disney World this time around…and what do I do? I BREAK A FREAKIN’ TOE! And you know, broken toe stories never really are a good story…because they always just happen randomly and in such a stupid and simple manner. For me…climbing into the shower at my resort. No joke. Jammed it on the tub. Yeah…
So…running gods and goddesses…whatever it is…I apologize. Please, please show me some mercy from here on out…
*COUGH*
That being said…not even a week removed from the New York City Marathon and I find myself up in Columbus, Ohio. Yes…this journey starts in Columbus, because my roomie and I were taking our good friend, Jenn, with us to Walt Disney World this time around. And, believe it or not, it was cheaper to drive up to Columbus and fly out of there on Friday morning than it was to do it from Louisville. Worked out in the end. The three of us could now travel together. YAY!! But…this also meant a very early morning after a night spent on the road to get there. We didn’t get in too late, but we didn’t want to stay up too late either, as our ride would be coming in between 4:15 a.m. and 4:20 a.m. Friday morning. Our flight out was at 6:30 a.m. Early flight…nonstop…meant…in to Disney early. WOOT! Jenn’s dad came and got us, drove us to the Columbus Airport, and dropped us off. Cathy and I checked our bags…Jenn carried hers on…and we went through security. Our first stop…Starbucks. Caffeine was needed for sure at this hour. And I had a tall soy salted caramel mocha calling my name. With coffees in hand, we settled in at our gate and just started discussing the plans for that day.
And…it ran smoothly. We boarded the plane on time and were in the air without any sort of delay. This was a new thing for me. And, believe it or not, our flight team got us in to Orlando a full 20 minutes early. HELLO! This is my happy dance. Cathy went to get the rental car while Jenn and I waited for luggage. The bags came through really quickly, actually, so Jenn and I headed out the way we were directed for rental cars and ended up at the Enterprise kiosk outside. Cathy was inside. Figures. So, she had to come to us. The representative took us out to the midsize cars and pointed out the Prius, as we are accustomed to Toyota vehicles as both Jenn and I own Toyotas. We were sold. Hello amazing as mileage!! Car acquired, we were now setting out to make our required Publix stop, to pick up some fruit, snacks, and some water. Jenn and I also replenished our protein bar stores. I am glad we did this, because I ate my way through all of mine this trip. After that, we headed to the resort and got checked in at…where else?…Port Orleans Riverside.
Yes. Again. Why change up the resort when we love this one so much. I mean…it’s one of my favorite Disney Princess’ place…Tiana, of course! And I know the layout and the rooms (or so I thought, HA!). We got our room…which was…a maze to find. Opposite end of the elevator, all the way around by the pool…second floor. We just had to do some exploring to find it. But, heh, we managed. We settled into the room for a moment…Jenn cooling off by the air conditioner, while I got out my tiara (requirement at Disney…because they call me Princess if I wear it…and I LOVE being called Princess). I had to get my waiver in order to pick up my race packet at the expo. And we grabbed a snack prior to heading out for the day.
First up…the expo. And thankfully, the resorts on Disney property run shuttles to the event. The expo was held at the ESPN Wild World of Sports Complex. Just like it normally is. Well, it was for the Dopey Challenge anyway. Love this venue. It’s really easy to navigate now…but at first it was slightly confusing.
The most amazing thing happened with this race though. In New York City, I met running legend Kathrine Switzer. When she ran the Boston Marathon, she was the now famous Bib 261. Well, my bib number at the Disney Wine & Dine was…261. Having this race bib number has been a dream of mine…Disney Magic made it happen! I love surprises like that. As I was one of the lower numbers, I had virtually no line to stand in. This is usually the case with Disney races for me. I was going to be in Corral A, which anyone with the numbers between 21-500 will be in. They gave me my commemorative pin, which I ordered ahead of time, and then sent me across the way to the actual expo, where I would pick up my t-shirt.
I avoided the vendors upon entering and made my way over to the area in the back for my t-shirts. Not too many people were in line for a women’s small either, so I stepped up and handed my bib over to the lady at the counter. She looked at it as she tore the t-shirt tab off and said, “WOW! You’re the lowest number I’ve seen…how fast can you run a half marathon?” I told her my fastest time and she asked if I was going to try to beat it here. I told her, in my mind, I’d love to, but I had just run a marathon on Sunday, so it wasn’t likely. The body was still recovering. I said I intended to have some fun and just enjoy it. And take pictures with characters this time around. Next time… She laughed and handed me my shirt. Time to shop!
I really intended not to purchase anything. Just look. But…heh…that didn’t work out as planned. I didn’t get a BondiBand here either, for the record. My mojo is off. My usual customs aren’t happening. ACK! But I didn’t see a booth, honestly. Cathy found me the race specific equivalent though in the Official Merchandise area…so we went with that. It would do. One thing I did do, however, was visit the Garmin booth and ended up getting a watch I could wear so I didn’t have to wear my Garmin running watch if I needed to know what time it was. After all, I was at Disney World and I was NOT going to live on my cell phone. Nope! This was vacation! With that purchase…I said I wasn’t allowed to spend any more money…so I avoided the Newton booth and tried to ignore all the cute running clothes. I made it out of there with only that purchase and a wine glass (Disney Wine & Dine…get it!) from Official Merchandise. I did well!
We wrapped things up and took the shuttle back to our resort to drop off our bags. Then…with no pausing, we were back out and this time hopping the regular shuttle bus to take us to Animal Kingdom, our park of choice for our first day there. We had things planned…like Jenn and I were going to ride Expedition Everest, the roller coaster there in Animal Kingdom. We did. And it was epic fun. It was nice to have a ride buddy this time around, as Cathy refuses to do any of those rides…because she somehow became less fun at amusement parks between when we first went to Disney in February 2013…to today. BUT…before any attractions or rides…we needed more coffee…and a snack. So…I hit up the allergy friendly Gardens Kiosk in the park for some hummus and vegetables and Cathy and Jenn grabbed some fries at a restaurant there. We noshed and then…went to grab the infamous COFFEE!! You see, Animal Kingdom has this one place that serves up this fantastic iced coffee in either a French Vanilla or Mocha flavor. I have always done, and will always do, the French Vanilla. But it tastes like a light milkshake. Seriously. It is the best thing ever. My favorite coffee at any Disney park. And…I might be addicted to it. With coffee now acquired and caffeine hitting the system…we had the roller coaster to do and the Kilimanjaro Safari. LOVE dong the safari at Animal Kingdom because the guides are fun, the animals are RIGHT THERE…and it’s just a nice way to relax and see some wild animals. LOVED it. While there, we also did the “It’s Tough To Be A Bug” show and rode on Dinosaur. By the time we wrapped things up, we were running just a tiny bit late to the shuttle to get to the Animal Kingdom Lodge…home of our traditional first meal at Disney World feast…Sanaa.
Sanaa is African food that sort of borrows from the flavors of India. Can you see why I love eating here so much? After talking with the chef, I ended up getting the Vegetarian Sampler, which is Basmati Rice and the choice of two of five of their vegetarian entrees. I went with the Chickpea Wat and the Seasonal Greens and Tomatoes. It was…beyond fantastic as always. For the record, Cathy ordered the Lamb Shank and Jenn got the Slow Cooked Dinner Sampler, which was Basmati Rice with a choice of two of the five plate offerings. She went with Butter Chicken and Goan Seafood Curry. We ended up splitting the dessert…as usual…we ordered the Seasonal Kulfi, which was pumpkin this time. And it was delicious. The couple next to us made conversation with us the entire time, and he ended up getting the trio of desserts, which included the kulfi that we were raving about. He took a bite and his wife said, “That was your sex face.” Hilarity ensued. Anyway, with dinner wrapped up, we had a full day and we knew the race was the following night, so we headed back to the resort to take our turn through the shower and get some much needed sleep.
Broken toe…*sigh*
And this…is where it all went down. I was first up to shower, so I went into the bathroom and got the water going. And as I was climbing into the bathtub…BAM…jammed my foot on the edge of the tub. Hard. And bad. I doubled over for about a minute before toughing it up and finishing the shower. After I was dressed, I hobbled out and pointed to my foot. “I think I broke a toe!” Cathy and Jenn looked up at me with big eyes and Cathy said, “SERIOUSLY!?” It was confirmed the next morning…when I woke up to find it swollen and a pretty shade of black-ish purple.
*SIGH*
Being proactive, we decided to use the athletic tape that we brought with us (because my feet are delicate things and I apparently need to wrap the hell out of them these days) and Cathy taped my broken toe (the 4th one)…to the middle toe. And that was how I managed to get through a full day at Hollywood Studios. For real. Being that the race started at 10 p.m., today was going to be a bit strange for me…because…I had to eat backwards. I also was not going to be having gluten-free pizza prior to this race. Night races…they screw everything up. So, we were having a character breakfast at Cape May (Minnie Mouse, Goofy, and Donald, FTW!). And this was going to be our biggest meal of the day. Honestly. The chef came out to talk to me and she ended up making me GLUTEN FREE MICKEY WAFFLES!! These are a requirement when I go to Disney World and Disneyland. I have to have them at least once. I paired that up with scrambled eggs for protein and a big heaping bowl of fruit. Because…it was there and really delicious! And that was breakfast. Off to Hollywood Studios. Cathy had somehow managed to get the times wrong for the fast passes we had for both the Aerosmith Rock ‘N Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror. But, we begged and pleaded and after being treated like children, Jenn and I were allowed on our thrill rides that Cathy refuses to even try. We also did Star Tours (always fun!) and Muppet Vision 3-D. LOVE THE MUPPETS. We had some time, so we headed over to The Magic of Disney Animation and sat in on one of the drawing classes, where we were taught how to draw Donald Duck this time. This made me happy…I hadn’t done a Donald Duck before. My lunch was my protein bar and a clementine, which I ate on the go. And after we wrapped up everything…we went back to the hotel, because I had a race to get dressed for…and to get to…broken toe or not.
I actually took the tape off my toes for the race, fearing blisters. We also had weather moving in (even though I was told on numerous occasions that Orlando didn’t have rain for months!). So…yeah…there was that. I was dressing up as Vanellope von Schweetz from Wreck it Ralph this time around. Why? Because Vanellope is awesome. HA! A co-worker of mine even sewed the top for me and it looked fantastic. I was pretty excited about the costume. Not so happy with my toe. And definitely not happy about the impending rain. But, you just suck it up cupcake and get it done. Right? Right! So, I got dressed, and went ahead and ate my cereal (treating my dinner as how I would eat on a race morning…because I was eating backwards all day!). Cathy put all the little candy bits in my hair and I packed a set of dry clothes (but not shoes) for after the race…just in case. The best part about Wine & Dine is the after party in Epcot. You get to try foods and drinks from different countries. And included in the race bag is a $10 gift card to put towards those purchases and samples. So, dinner for Cathy and Jenn was going to be tasting around the world. For me…probably a protein bar because there isn’t too much there for a gluten-free vegetarian. But…I figured I would take in the experience.
So, I grabbed the banana we purchased at the grocery store when we got there on Friday and we headed out to the shuttle to take us to the start of the race, which would be near the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The staging area was mostly in the grass, and it started to sprinkle a bit. The first thing we did was head to information to figure out the best way for Cathy and Jenn to get from the start to the finish. They were told, especially since I was a Corral A runner, that they needed to leave and get a shuttle before I started the race. So…after dancing around and helping me put a garbage bag over my head to keep my body warm as the wind picked up and the weather started to roll in…they gave me hugs…I was told that the “power of Dean compels me” and not to “pants my poop.” TRADITION! And they were gone. So…I just sort of plopped myself down somewhere and tried to stay warm. I ate my banana. I watched people expend a lot of energy by jumping and dancing…and it was fun!! But soon…it was time to get in those corrals. And I made the short hike from the staging area to the corrals, moving all the way up to Corral A.
One thing I loved was seeing so many people in this corral in costume. Disney race or not, a lot of times the higher up corrals don’t get into the Disney spirit. I have always and will always costume for Disney races. They are Disney races. If you run Disney for time, you’re missing the point! I stayed in the black garbage bag until after the wheelchair racers were sent off. The elite runners and Corral A were then moved up to the start line. I shed it then…and that’s when it started to rain. Lightly at first. So, when they sent us off with the fireworks and all…it was like a spring shower. But soon after that first mile, where I met a fellow runner who had just done New York City in that horrible, awful, crazy wind…the rain started to pick up. And then…it was just…a downpour.
The first three miles of this race are done on the highway…and this race also embraces the most hills of any Disney race I have run yet at Disney World. But…after New York City…these didn’t seem too bad. Not really. After the 5K mark, we come into Animal Kingdom. Running through the parks is the best part because you get to have the park employees cheer you on. That and this is normally a key place to snap pictures with characters. The problem was…with the downpour…many of the characters weren’t out. BUMMER! But, you go on. We run around the Tree of Life just after Mile 4 and then duck outside of the park before hitting 5 Miles.
The rain was relentless and my shoes were full of water. The good thing was, my feet were so cold and numb that I couldn’t tell if my toe was hurting or not at this point. But, I knew it was hindering me. There just comes a point where you just can’t do anything about it…so you just stop worrying about it. The next few miles were back on the roads, part of the path we ran for the Disney World Marathon. I recognized it. I was about halfway through and running down the street parallel to those just getting started. On the opposite side of the highway…the later corrals were just getting underway. And we got a lot of cheers from them as we went on.
It’s around Mile 10 that we get filtered into Hollywood Studios. Great park to run through. It was decorated for Christmas and everything was lit up. This has great scenes to run past and the support there is nothing but phenomenal from the cast members. Honestly. Despite running in the shadow of the Tower of Terror and through the various lots that they feature, my absolute favorite part of Hollywood Studios involved disco balls and the Costuming Tunnel in the Backlot. Honestly…I loved looking through the windows, while disco balls are sending lights everywhere in this small tunnel, and seeing people pressing and prepping the costumes for the following day. It was spectacular. I wanted to stop and linger…because…well…it was dry in there…and…IT WAS FLIPPIN’ COOL! But, I was nearing the end of the race and the after party and two very soggy spectators awaited my arrival at that finish line.
Onward.
Out of Hollywood Studios and onto the slick and slippery boardwalk, which runs past the Disney Yacht Club and Disney Beach Club Resorts. Even with the hard rain and cool air, people staying there still came out to cheer. I love the vibe I get at every Disney race. But the electricity through these last two miles was fantastic. Honestly.
From the Boardwalk we took a turn through Epcot, past the giant ball, and out into the parking lot. I know this finish area well, trust me. Around the corner and BAM…there was the finish line. I pressed hard to that finish line, ignoring my foot and toe, just wanting to get over that mat. And I cleared it, soaking wet and dripping with rain and pure determination and stubbornness. Broken toe…check. Half marathon…check. BEAST MODE, BABY!
As I recieved my medal and my mylar blanket, I saw Cathy and Jenn waving to me from the bleachers. They were as wet as I was. They started down while I got the finisher’s photo, some water, and, of course, the goodie box that RunDisney hands you at the end of every race, filled with goodies like Skittles, Clif Bars, Craisins, Fruit Snacks, and Tortilla Chips with a Cheese spread. I wasn’t ready for food. What I was ready for was getting out of the chute and meeting up with my friends. I sipped on some water and went to where I was directed to exit.
There they were. Cathy came up to me and gave me a hug. Jenn came over to do the same and said, “You can tell I love you…” LOL!! I really do have amazing friends. And I give a lot of props and love to the spectators and volunteers who stood or sat out in that downpour for as long as they did.
But now…it was time to check out the after party, which meant an uncrowded spin around the World Showcase with some tasting portions of food at the different country booths and kiosks. But first…I was freezing…and I wanted hot tea. We got that immediately and set out to see what each country had to offer. If something sounded good…devour. If not…move on. I probably should have changed clothes, but at that point, it was still raining, so I didn’t see the point.
Cathy tried foods from 7 countries: Mexico, Singapore, China, Brazil, Belgium, France, Canada. Jenn tried food from China, Brazil, and France. Me…I had tea. And after stopping at France, I decided I REALLY needed to be in dry clothes. I was shaking more than walking. And since it was just an intermittent drizzle, I figured it was the best time to get out of my cold, wet costume and into my long pants and running jacket.
Me, in dry clothes, after walking the World Showcase and enjoying the after party at Epcot after the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon
BEST FEELING EVER!
I was dry and now…warm. I also ate one of my protein bars to help with recovery. And we finished up the World Showcase that night and called it a morning. Because by the time we got on the shuttle and returned to the hotel, it was 2:35 a.m. And we all still had to shower. I went first, making it quick. Then Jenn. Then Cathy. We didn’t have any reason to be up early the following morning, so we slept in until 9:30-ish. It was Magic Kingdom day that day…which meant Dole Whip for dessert that night. We ended up having Dole Whip for breakfast the following morning before hitting up Epcot on our last day there.
I even randomly was found by my friend Michele, who also did the half marathon. She found me in Morocco of all places. HA! And we ended up talking about a lot of things for awhile, before she and her group moved on to try more foods from the showcase, and we went to continue on around the other way, killing time before dinner that night.
So, my official results for the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon are that I finished with an official time of 1:50:09. ON A BROKEN TOE! IN THE POURING RAIN! I was 418/11,941 overall. I was the 97/7928 woman to cross the finish line. And I was 15/1442 in my division to finish. Disney Magic. Had to be. Not my best half marathon by a long shot, but given the circumstances…just…amazing to me.
Now, really, I need to show some mercy on my poor foot and toe. Time to heal.
Once again, Disney…you were expensive…but totally worth every bit of money I poured into you for those 4 days I was there. Despite not having the characters out on the course for much of the race, I have every desire to come back and do this one again. This time…without the downpour and preferably without the broken toe.
Disney…as always…you are my happy place. Thanks for another great race (and another great reason to dress up in costume to run!).
Me crossing the finish line of the TCS New York City Marathon – New York, New York
Race: TCS New York City Marathon
Place: New York, New York
Date: November 2, 2014
Time:3:50:32
There is just something about New York City! I have always loved this city. Seriously. And that was only reaffirmed two weekends ago when I was there to participate in the TCS New York City Marathon! Talk about an exciting, overwhelming, and interesting adventure.
Interesting, you say? Well…yes. Because this adventure started off with quite a few hiccups. And the first one was the flight there. For one thing, without being told, our American Airlines flight was changed. Yep. Changed. In fact, it was now a USAirways flight. Which, for reasons dating back to Ireland 2010…pissed me off. But, I guess it was a good thing I sent my roomie over to their site to check us into our flight, or we would have been 2 full hours late to the airport. Instead of leaving at 6 p.m., our flight was changed to 4 p.m. I never got word of this change…so…thankfully we checked. YIKES!
Now having to leave work earlier for the airport, we had to tie up things at work sooner. But the fun didn’t stop there. Our flight was delayed. And when the call came through (at least they let me know this time!), we found out that now we couldn’t make our connecting flight at Charlotte to get to LaGuardia, where we’d be meeting up with Heather to get to the hotel together. UGH. Cathy got on the phone and finally got to talk to someone who managed to get us on a flight that would get into Newark. Now we needed to get from New Jersey to Manhattan. So…now Cathy had to call and hire a car. I was stressed out. Very much not a zen runner at this time. So, that afternoon, we left work earlier than planned to get to the Louisville airport. We arrived…checked my bag (I had to…I actually had foam rollers, water, and even a protein shake)…and got through security without a line. The TSA agent was cracking me up. He asked where I was traveling to and me, wearing my TCS New York City Marathon pullover said, “New York City.” And he did the old Pace Picante Sauce commercial where he said, “New York City?…Get a rope.” I giggled. At least TSA was in a good mood on Halloween.
Now, we had time to kill. So, Cathy and I began our endless meandering between the two terminals at the Louisville airport. And on one of our circuits, we ran into our boss from the office and her husband, who were supposed to have left earlier that morning for London. Turns out their flight got cancelled and they had to come back to catch a later one…which was also flying to Charlotte (like ours!), but it was the flight following us. I have never run into anyone I know at any airport, so this kind of made my day. We talked for a bit and then we went to charge my phone and wait on our plane.
Me with the Horse Head Guy at Charlotte Airport
It arrived late. We boarded. We got into Charlotte and noticed that one of the passengers on our flight (I said he looked like he was in the mafia), was now walking around with a horse mask on his head. It cracked me up for some reason. And the double takes he would get on the moving sidewalk was priceless. Seriously. When he paused to look at the connection screens, I went up and asked if I could get a photo with him. He kindly did so. God, I love Halloween.
Anyway, while at Charlotte we got something to eat. I devoured a protein bar and a fruit cup I went and bought at Starbucks. Cathy got Burger King, something she hasn’t had in awhile. I think it was a good choice for her. After we ate and relaxed, we headed over to our gate to fly out to Newark. We boarded, we took off, we landed. Cathy called the car people while I snagged my bag from baggage claim. And then…we were picked up and taken to The Manhattan Club in downtown Manhattan, our home away from home for the rest of the weekend.
Heather got there about 4 hours before we did. They were nice enough to let her check into the room. She went out exploring and to grab dinner while we were still on our way. But, we arrived. Cathy switched the credit card over to hers and Heather came down to take us up to our room. Second floor. No long elevator rides and the option to take the stairs if needed. We talked for a little bit, but it was very early and we needed some rest. We all got ready for bed and I set an alarm to wake us up so we could head over to the expo in a couple of hours.
The alarm went off too early for my liking, but I got up, shut it off, and we were got dressed and headed out into the windy, chilly, and damp New York City morning. The shuttle to the expo was picking up not too far from our hotel. We were early, and happened to stroll past a Fresh & Co. We noted the gluten-free and vegetarian offerings, so we ducked inside to eat some breakfast as the shuttle was about a 30 minute wait and we had the time. The breakfast was good. Not great. But good. And filling. And as I had no lunch plans, that was the important thing. I ended up getting the Zen Quinoa Bowl, which had 2 eggs over easy, with chickpeas, kale, portobello mushrooms, and onions. I topped it off with hot sauce and…yeah…it saw me through. Cathy got one of their breakfast wraps and Heather got a Nutella Croissant.
Now fortified and with the shuttle scheduled to arrive at any time…we headed out to hop aboard and get to the Javits Center and get our expo on! I had heard amazing things about this expo…and being New York City…you just know it’s going to be HUGE. I was hoping to have a chance to catch a couple of the elites, but it was the day before the race…so it wasn’t happening. It was nice, however, to get out of the rain for a little while. We arrived via shuttle bus and disembarked, heading inside and following the crowds to the escalators that took us up…to a camera/photography expo. Walk around to another set of escalators and BAM…marathon heaven. And immediately you see the official merchandise booth. I had to hit this up.
Me with my race bib…#11415 – Orange – Wave 1 – Corral C!
For one thing, I was dedicating my race to a very brave young lady battling her second bout of brain cancer. I wanted to get Cailin something from the expo and my friend (her mom), Joanne, said that she loves hats…and they would keep her head warm during the winter as she went through treatments. Perfect. So, I purchased a hat for her…then arm warmers, gloves, and a t-shirt for me. Done. On to the rest of the expo. Packet pickup. Smooth and easy. No problems at all. And no line! Back to exploring. No BondiBands…so no purchasing of those as is tradition. But I got to sample a few products and know (for 100% sure) that I want a Yonana machine. I avoided the Newton tent…because I knew I’d purchase shoes that I didn’t currently need (I have a pair in the box still!). I did purchase a couple flavors of GU for the marathon, as I was in need of fuel. Aside from that, we strolled the aisles, sampled things, and then…went upstairs to do the passport thing to get a free poster. I love race posters. So, we traveled through the different boroughs of New York via the expo, got this little booklet stamped at each one, took pictures, pretended to cross the finish line…and then…then…
I met a legend.
Kathrine Switzer.
Heather, Me, Kathrine Switzer, and Cathy at the TCS New York City Marathon Race Expo
If you do not know who Kathrine Switzer is…shame on you. In case you are living in shame…she is the first female to run the Boston Marathon as a registered number. Albeit, she was registered under the name of K. Switzer and race officials thought she was a man. When they saw her running, they tried to forcefully remove her from the race. She slipped from their grasps and went on to finish the race. What an inspiration to women everywhere. Especially women runners.
I wanted to meet her. So…I got into her line. Her time was running short, as she was about to go and give a talk, and we were warned that she might not get to us. But…we decided to at least try. And…we were the last people to get to talk to her. She was very kind, giving all three of us hugs. And as she called me over to sign a copy of her book…this man from Mexico came over and tried to talk to her. He said he didn’t understand English, but her assistant spoke Spanish. I don’t think he expected that. This kind of shit always happens to me. I was having a moment…and then…someone sort of…ruins it for me. Kathrine, being Kathrine, indulged him and signed his book and snapped a photo with him, but now she was feeling even more hurried. She apologized so many times. We took a picture and then she insisted that Cathy and Heather get in the shot too. It has always been a dream of mine to run under her Boson number: 261. She told me to “be fearless” and to have a great marathon. Such a wonderful woman.
And then…we were done with the expo. Just like that. We hopped back on a shuttle to head back to the Manhattan Club, after grabbing some Starbucks. Mmmm…much needed caffeine. Upon returning, we went to Walgreens to purchase umbrellas and some water to have in the room. Hydration is very important! Heather had plans to meet up with her cousin for lunch, so she hopped into a taxi and went to do that. Cathy and I decided to go exploring. I know…the day before the race is not the time to be on your feet, but my time in NYC was so limited as it was, I needed to get out there. Even if it was pouring rain on us and just windy and gross. Off we went. First stop…Times Square! And from there…wherever our feet took us. And we literally pounded that pavement for hours. We went up Broadway…and I spotted the Phantom of the Opera in a window of a theater showing…Phantom of the Opera. He waved…and I waved back. We hiked around to various stores, ducking in to wherever looked interesting. We took in some famous sites. Cathy went and got cannoli from The Cake Boss store…something she had been dying to do. And then, we reconnected with Heather, and went to Rockerfeller Center. The ice rink was up, but I couldn’t justify paying $30 to skate…and that was without the skate rental fee. We went to the Lego store. We grabbed chocolates at Teuscher Chocolates (to have as dessert that night). And then, we finally wrapped everything up and went back to the hotel room to drop things off and head off to dinner.
Me in Times Square, New York, New York
Night before a race means…gluten-free pizza!!
And we had originally planned to go to a place called Nizza. But, the only reservation slot available was 4 pm. WAY too early. So, around 6 p.m., we went down to Don Antonio by Starita, a few blocks down from our hotel, instead. They didn’t take reservations, but said that there was never more than a 45 minute wait, even on weekends. We took them at their word. Upon arriving, I went in to put my name on the list. I was told…45 minutes. So we waited. Inside. This tiny little restaurant. It. Was. Worth. It.
Cathy and Heather actually got their first sample of the food as, because of the number of people, a sample pizza was sliced up and sent out. Cathy was impressed by what she tried. And soon after, the very Italian man (whom we nicknamed the Italian Adam Levine) called out my name. And he could have said it a few more times and I would not have minded at all. *DROOL* We were seated and given menus to browse. Because it had no cheese on it at all…Cathy and I opted to split the Gluten Free Marinara Pizza. She also decided to try one of their famous fried dough balls…opting for the Montanarine Genovese, which is a fried dough puff topped with onion, pancetta and pecorino romano. Heather ordered a pizza as well (she needed meat and cheese and took half of it back to the hotel, although we never got back around to it) and also tried one of the fried dough balls. Order in. Order out. I actually had to look VERY closely at the pizza to make sure it was gluten free. It actually had a CRUST. No cracker crust here. This was a substantial, real pizza crust. The only difference between it and the regular crust was that this was obviously cooked in a pan as the edges were very clean. It was fantastic. And filling. And after eating…we returned to the hotel, ate our chocolates, rotated through showers, and got to bed.
Underneath that fashionable robe is a girl ready to run the streets of NYC
THANK GOD FOR DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME. We fell back that night. Extra hour of sleep. Which was good, because the alarm at 4 a.m. for me to get up and get dressed for the race came earlier than I wanted. I turned it off, went into the bathroom and started to get ready. And then I heard the alarm go off again (appropriately it was “New York Groove” by Kiss). I had only hit snooze. Whoops. It did that twice more…so by the time Heather and Cathy were supposed to get up…they were already up. They went to get ready and soon I was pinned up, donning the toss-away bathrobe to keep me warm at the start for hours, and we were heading out of the room to make the walk to the subway to get to the New York Public Library where I would catch a shuttle bus to the start.
We stepped outside and were immediately battered by a strong wind gust. I mean, it practically knocked us over. Very high winds. As we headed to the subway I said, “And I’m supposed to run in this?!” It would be interesting if nothing else. The underground subway terminal was a nice reprieve from the wind and soon we found ourselves on a train with other runners heading to the same place. We got off the train and headed up to the street to the library. We were all guided into this little chute, which we walked until we hit the security checkpoint where only people with a race bib could enter. I gave hugs to Cathy and Heather, and sent them off to get their breakfast…a NYC bagel…while I got into the madness of the bus queue. Oh…wow…this was insanity. So many people…all trying to get on their shuttles. WOW. It was…an adventure to say the least. But I picked a line further up and climbed into the bus to make the drive from the library to the start camp at the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge. I only had with me a change of shoes (I heard the grass could get wet so I was ditching an old pair in my corral and putting on my race shoes then), a banana and some cereal. My fuel belt was around my waist…and that was it. I was bundled up in a robe and gloves…but it was no match for the bitter wind that morning.
Heather, me, and Cathy in the subway waiting on the train to get to the New York City Library shuttles. We are very sleep deprived.
The ride over was uneventful. It was super early…my shuttle departed at 6 a.m. Everyone was I think just…sleeping or dozing or looking out the window. I did a lot of looking out the window on the ride to the bridge. I was in a calm place. I thought I was going to be a nervous wreck, especially since I wouldn’t know anyone at the start line. But I was as zen as could be expected…because the unexpected awaited. I will remind everyone…my training for this race fell to pieces back in July…when what was thought to be the start of a stress fracture turned out to be…inflammation…that still is rearing its ugly head. So, I knew this race had the potential to be…really, really, really bad. But I was going into it with my foot feeling…okay…and a lot of support.
The bus parked on the side of the road with a long line of other buses. And here, we all disembarked. There were volunteers out, directing all runners toward the staging area of Fort Wadsworth…where I would now have a 3 hour wait before my wave and corral would be sent off. Three long, cold, and windy hours. It was during this slow procession to the staging area and start villages that I realized my banana had fallen out of my robe pocket on the bus. Now…all that I had with me to eat…was a serving size of my cereal. And my GU packets for the run. I knew the start villages were going to have some items for runners to enjoy, including coffee, tea, and bagels. I was hoping bananas or something gluten-free might be there as well.
But first…I had to contend with the security. All runners had to show their bibs as they entered the staging area. Then…metal detectors. I had my clear starting area bag with just my shoes in it (and in hindsight, should have put my snacks in there as well!) so I was ushered through. I handed my stuff off to one of the officers, went through the metal detector, and then proceeded to get wanded because I was wearing my long robe. Ah well. No biggie. The wind was already brutal. In fact, race officials had to reduce the number of tents at the staging area because of the strong wind gusts. This meant, when I made it to the orange start village…there was one tent…and a lot…A LOT of people.
Me sitting in the tent for the Orange Start Village before the TCS New York City Marathon…rocking the free Dunkin Donuts Hat. I was, honestly, freezing!
Entering the staging area for my color was an experience. Lines of people were everywhere. But, by the grace of the running gods, Dunkin Donuts was there and they were passing out these hats to all the runners. Thank goodness, because the winds were not only gusting, but they were chilling. Down to the bone. And my head was cold. I immediately threw it onto my head (as so many others did as well) and made one circuit of the start village offerings. Tea, spring water, coffee (supplied by Dunkin Donuts), Gatorade Endurance products, bagels and PowerBars were all there were. I went up to the PowerBar people and asked if any of the bars were gluten-free. None of them were. I was about to have a mild panic attack. I had yet to eat something…because I didn’t want to eat too early…but I knew it would be impossible to go very far on just a serving of my gluten-free cereal. Yep. Panic. Not much I could do about it though…so taking the advice of my friend, Courtney, who ran New York City last year, I made my way to the one tent that they had up in my start village and ducked inside, spotting somewhere sort of near the middle and settled in. Maybe I could make friends. Maybe someone would have an extra banana. Maybe…
But…no one around me spoke English. No joke. Not very well, anyway. So, making friends was not going well for me. I finally just gave up, decided to eat bits of my cereal intermittently until I had to get to my corral, and just…try not to panic. I had one extra GU pack on me, which I would take 20 minutes before the run. It had to be good enough. So I began reading through Dean Koontz’s “Frankenstein” and would every now and again nibble on a bit of my cereal. My nerves were now way up.
After awhile, I started hearing some announcements over the loud speaker…but couldn’t make any of them out. I decided to risk losing my spot in the tent to step outside and see if I could get a clearer idea of what was being said. I am so glad I did. Because Wave 1 was being sent to their corrals and we had 20 minutes to make the walk there and get inside before we would be cut off and forced to start in the second wave instead. That was not going to happen to me. I made my way with the masses toward the corrals, now traipsing over a field with hay laid out on the ground. And I made it to the Orange Wave…Corral C. With only a few minutes to spare. Whew.
I admit…I think I was expecting something closer to the start corrals of the Chicago Marathon. But I was on a little side street, alleyway of some sort…with port-a-potties lining one entire side and the masses of runners in the Orange Wave Corral C all huddled together or in line to pee. It was…not glamorous at all. I made small talk with some people around me…a woman from Australia who commented on my dressing gown…a freezing guy who was dressed in shorts and a long sleeve shirt…not at all prepared for all the hours spent at the staging area in this kind of weather. And others. As the time got nearer, I changed my shoes and ditched the robe…to now freeze. Soon…the corral strings were dropped and we were all marched forward, up toward the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge.
The view of the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge from my corral on Staten Island
It is a beautiful bridge…but it is intimidating for sure. I saw a Marathon Maniac walking only a few steps ahead of me, so I called out to him and we were talking on the way up near the bridge. He asked where my Marathon Maniac gear was and I explained that my company sponsored me so I was wearing their uniform. Then, the loud speaker booted up again and we were hearing the names of the elite men (my wave started with them!) and we would all cheer. I mean…we were running with Wilson Kipsang, Geoffrey Mutai, and Meb Keflezighi. Legends. Then we were informed that was the dress rehearsal and the next time it would be live…so we were to cheer loudly again. HA. The magic of television.
They were announced. Again. And we cheered. Again. I removed the Dunkin Donuts hat and tucked it into my fuel belt. If it stayed…free hat. If not…eh…it was a free hat. The National Anthem was played and then…cannons. I knew that was how we were sent off…but it still scared the living daylights out of me. My heart skipped a beat, my feet began to move toward the start…and up we all started, crossing the first sensor pad at the start line…and taking the 3.6% grade of the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge. And that was when we got our first taste of the winds that we would be battling that morning. No joke, there were gusts that made me feel like my feet were going to come out from under me. We all put our heads down…our race bibs sounding like sails in hurricane force winds. The helicopters circled us overhead. The world was watching. And we must have looked like we were on the biggest treadmill in the wold.
The first mile is straight up the bridge and the second mile…you come back down and hit the streets. Everything is loud. After the bridge…it’s just people. So many people. And they are out there…cheering…and if you had your name on your shirt (I didn’t)…they would shout out your name. It was uplifting. It almost made you forget you were cold. And battling wind gusts between 40 mph and 60 mph. So, we left Staten Island and were immediately welcomed into…BROOKLYN!
I won’t lie…I had the Beastie Boys song “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” drumming through my mind. It was part of the music playlist I put together to get me excited for the NYC Marathon in the first place. We honestly rounded that corner and heard “WELCOME TO BROOKLYN!” Awesome.
The elite men on First Avenue around Mile 17.5. Meb is in the white arm warmers behind the second guy in orange.
Brooklyn is, honestly, the longest stretch of the five boroughs. Staten Island…we’re there for the start village and the bridge…then…up until the halfway point…honestly. And there was a lot going on for that first half. Rows of people lining the streets. Runners either pushing hard from the start or easing up to save it for the finish. I knew running the entire 26.2 miles wasn’t happening for me. I can’t run what I didn’t train for…but I was going to do my best. I dedicated this race to a brave young woman who was fighting the hardest battle of her life…and I was going to honor her as best I could. I was going to just give this race the best of me.
At mile 5…I ditched my gloves.
Brooklyn was interesting. It is also where, around Mile 10, we enter Bedford Avenue…Williamsburg…where the Orthodox Jews reside. While there were some scattered throughout this mile…watching…it was silent. No cheering. And hardly anyone out. It made Mile 10 one of the more challenging to get through in the race. The crowds carry you when you feel like you can’t take one more step. Here…you just had to get through. It was early though…and most of us still felt good. I did.
I hit the halfway point…and then…”WELCOME TO QUEENS!”
Pretty much every borough had someone that would scream a fantastic welcome to you as you ran through. LOVE. The Queensboro Bridge was ahead…and as I started to make my way inside…yes…we ran a lower deck…I saw many a male marathoner pull off to the side to pee. This was also the bridge where I lost my GPS signal for about .3 of a mile. I didn’t know it at the time, but it happened. I noticed as I came to Mile 16 and my watch didn’t beep. It did…a little later after I passed. I was now ahead of my watch. That is okay…I wear that as a backup for my time more than anything else. The zen runner does live on…sometimes. Exiting the bridge, which was just a cavern that echoed and amplified our breathing and footfalls, we were once again greeted by the masses. That rush you get when that crowd returns…when you get the shouting and the cowbells and the encouragement…it is the best feeling in the world. And it was what started to carry me.
Me waving to Heather and Cathy at Mile 17.5. Still smiling and feeling good!
Cathy and Heather had told me that they were going to try to catch me at Mile 17. As I crossed the Mile 17 marker, I began searching the crowd on the left for them. This was made even more challenging as we were now climbing another hill. I didn’t see them and had all but given up. The downside of the hill greeted me and as I crest it and begin my descent, there they are, screaming for me over the crowd. I run by, throwing them a huge smile and a wave. I love seeing my friends when I’m running. It is just…uplifting. It is.
I was running First Avenue now…and I remained on there through Mile 20 about. But before leaving this street…I still had to go over the Willis Avenue Bridge. The inclines were starting to get to my untrained legs, so I slowed a little. I hated to do it…but if I was going to make that last 10K, I had to. But I took the bridge like a champ, pushing myself through the strong headwinds and thinking of Cailin…wanting to finish this strong. I came off the bridge…
“WELCOME TO THE BRONX!”
We weren’t in The Bronx for long through…and soon the streets wound us through Harlem and the crowds were loud and it was exciting. I loved hearing people get called out. I loved hearing, “You’re looking strong, girl!” Even though I knew I looked anything but strong. It helped. A lot. This was around where runners hit the dreaded wall. With the strong wind gusts that day, I was battling this run harder than any other. I think this might be as close as I have ever gotten to hitting…”The Wall.” I fought it though…because I knew…I was close now. I was so close.
We make the turn onto Fifth Avenue and soon I hear the shout I’ve been waiting to hear…
“WELCOME BACK TO MANHATTAN!”
Love. I could see the city. I could hear the city. And here, the runners were pushing themselves toward Central Park. We get to duck inside the park around Mile 22, only to reemerge briefly. But when we return to the park…we are two miles away from glory. Just two miles. The crowds inside the park are amazing. They had to go through security checkpoints to be there. They were loud and giving us the “You’re so close! You’re almost there!” And you believe it…because it’s true. Two miles…
My selfie after crossing the finish line of the TCS New York City Marathon
The park is beautiful this time of year. Still green, but shading to those perfect fall colors. The wind…was brutal that day. And I focused more on pushing through those gusts. I could taste the finish line. I could almost feel it with each step I willed myself to take. I was on my way. I came up hill at Mile 25…and I knew…I was close. Pushing on, the crowds became louder. I could hear the announcer at the finish line. And there it was. These arching towers…those little blue mats at our feet. I pushed with what I could find left in my tank. I pushed. And I crossed that finish line feeling like I just won the damn thing. My time…was my third fastest, although I felt like this one beat me up the most. I was tired and drained…but I felt so alive. There were no tears at this finish line. Smiles. Just smiles. I did it! I took a moment…and snapped a selfie.
From here…the long walk ensued. We were funneled through the finishing area, our medals placed around our necks and mylar blankets wrapped around us. There were people out there who attached stickers to hold the mylar in place as we continued up through Central Park. Finisher’s photos were taken…and the food goodie bag was passed out. Water and Gatorade were offered. I took some water. I was in the group of runners that had a bracelet on because I didn’t check a bag. This meant I got a free TCS New York City Marathon poncho. But my trek there was long…I had to get to 77th Street. Here, volunteers would wrap and secure the lined and heavy-duty poncho around the runners and send us up toward 72nd Street. This…was where we were out of the race zone.
I had through I’d be going straight up 77th street to rendezvous with Heather, Cathy and my friend Marisa…but now I was 5 blocks down. I checked the printed map Cathy had given me and this worked out better. The hot dog place they were grabbing lunch at (Gray’s Papaya) was closer to 72nd Street. So, I headed up that way. I was handed some tea and congratulated. Many people who walked by congratulated all the runners making their way up there.
Marisa, me, and Heather after the TCS New York City Marathon
And then…there was Heather. She hurried over and gave me a hug. She said, “You finished in 3:50-something.” I was beaming. Then…Cathy and Marisa were there…hugs all around. I wanted to get back to the hotel to shower because we had some things to do before dinner that night, and our reservation was at 6 p.m. So, we made the short walk back to The Manhattan Club. We went up to the hotel room and I took a nice hot shower. Nothing in the world felt better than that. After I was changed and my hair was dried…I gave another attempt at consuming a protein shake post-marathon. It didn’t sit well. Not one bit. I ended up throwing it up. But I felt better. We headed out…to walk to Tiffany’s because I needed to get a pendant engraved and do a bit of shopping. On the way, Cathy ducked into the place we had breakfast on Saturday morning and snagged me a bottle of Sprite Zero to settle my stomach. It helped. A lot.
We had a great time at Tiffany’s…but it took longer than anticipated. Back to the hotel to change for dinner. Then a fantastic and
Me, with Cathy, in my fancy dress, compression socks, and heels…because this is how a marathoner dresses up for dinner!
celebratory dinner at Red Rooster in Harlem. For any non-foodies…this is Marcus Samuelsson’s restaurant. Usually we do pubs…but I requested this. I think the most epic moment of the night was as we were heading down to the subway, some girls were just coming up the steps with their mylar wrapped around them. They looked at me and said…”She’s in heels. She just ran a marathon…and she’s in heels. With compression socks!” Their eyes met mine and they said…”You’re my hero!” It made me laugh. I tend to recover well and fast after a marathon. I hope it stays like that. So…dinner in Harlem and then…we parted. Marisa had to return to New Jersey and the three of us went to retire to the hotel. Heather and I decided to head back out (I move as much as possible after a marathon) and see Ground Zero. We saw the new tower, which was opening the following morning. It was still bitter cold out and we ended up having a snafu with one of our trains back to Manhattan. So, we got in really late…and had to all get up super early to get a taxi to the airport. But every moment of this trip was worth it.
My official time for the TCS New York City Marathon was 3:50:32. I was 9984 out of 50,875 finishers overall. I was the 1970/20,414 female to cross the finish line. And I was 403/3740 in my age division to finish. When I look at the overall results…I am beyond impressed with my performance. This still wasn’t the race I wanted. But the winds…they were relentless. I heard on the news that all but 6 miles of the marathon were with a headwind. I believe it. It sucked. A lot. But, you can’t change the weather…you just adapt. That’s what I did. I would LOVE to run this one again, believe it or not. Minus the wind trying to take my feet out from under me. As a side note, the wheelchair racers were started at Mile 3…due to the heavy winds on the bridge. The race officials were afraid they would be blown over or off. It was honestly that bad. I had a fantastic time and a fantastic race given the circumstances…and I was once again reminded of the many reasons that I always have and continue to love New York.
Me crossing the finish line with Natalie at the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon, Louisville, Kentucky
Race: Urban Bourbon Half Marathon
Place: Louisville, Kentucky
Date: October 25, 2014
Time:2:00:21
It was the weekend before the New York City Marathon…and I had not run over 2 miles. At all. Nope. Coming back after Twin Cities was a struggle. When you run a marathon you don’t train for…you hurt. When your foot already hurts…you hurt longer and more than you thought was humanly possible. I took a full two weeks off after Twin Cities…no nothing. Just recovery. And then, because of inflammation and a bit of lingering soreness in the foot…I picked up some light cardio on the machines, but still hesitated to get out there and pound the pavement. After one more week of cautionary workouts…I decided to try 1 mile. I did this every morning…and I felt like some progress was being made.
The problem with the foot meant that I was out of the Black Cat Chase 5K in Frankfort, Kentucky. I was bummed, because that is a great 5K to run. It’s at night. It’s usually cold. It’s fun. And I always duck into the coffee shop afterwards for apple cider to warm up. It wasn’t happening this year…not with this foot. The people in Frankfort were gracious enough to allow me to use the free entry I won towards next year. So…there it is.
I knew that New York City was looming. It was just…there. And I knew I needed to go for an easy double-digit run…working in some walking because you just don’t go from 1 mile to double digits right away. You just…don’t.
Awhile back, a friend of mine said she was training for the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon…and as I was out all summer, my intention was to show up…with signs…and cheer for her. I wasn’t going to tell her I was doing it. Just show up and surprise her. But…things sort of unraveled the week or so before the race. Needless to say…I ended up scrapping the plans this time.
But then, my friend Natalie, who swore off the Urban Bourbon (because this half marathon meant the end of the Big Hit Quarter and Half Marathons) was suddenly running it because our friend, and fellow runner, Terry, gave her a free entry. She, like me, has been dealing with injuries this year, and she decided since she hadn’t trained for it, she’d just go out there and run what she feels and it would all be grand. She told me, after I teased her about signing up for a race she said she’d never run, that she was going to do a run/walk method.
Which got me thinking about how necessary running over 1 mile a day was for me in order to prepare for New York City. After I texted her to make sure she wasn’t running for time (let’s face it…speed is not something I have right now)…and she confirmed…and that she would do a run/walk method…I said I’d like to run it with her, as a good gauge for how New York City would go. And…she even had a free entry code for me…so…free race. How could I say no?
Answer: I would have been stupid to turn it down.
Unexpected half marathon…registered.
So, after attending the Halloween Party at Annie May’s Sweet Café in Louisville, Kentucky (I went dressed as a “jogger”), where I got my gluten-free pizza (required!!), I went home and had to decide on something to wear. Natalie, in protest, was wearing one of her Big Hit shirts. Long sleeve. I wanted to dress the same as her…but the weather was saying 50 degrees that morning, and I didn’t think, from the picture, that I had that shirt (I do…I pulled it out even, but in my mind, as she had arm warmers with it, I thought it was a short sleeve shirt and the Big Hit short sleeve shirts were tents on me!), so I opted to be Natalie’s Tinkerbell. In other words…GREEN! I pulled out my new running skirt I got on sale at Nike and my bright green BlueMile t-shirt. That would work. I planned on testing out the Adidas Adizero Boston 5 shoes that my friend, and shoe guru, Jackson, put me in the weekend before when I limped into Fleet Feet. I had worn them on a couple of my little 1 mile jaunts…and loved them. They weren’t Newtons…but they do give me a comfortable ride. Adidas seems to be the other shoe I love. Go figure. Anyway, Jackson swore by them and I tested them out with a jog around the building. Foot felt good and comfortable in them. SOLD. They came home with me and that week I spent breaking them in properly…by wearing them everywhere. When the free entry to the Urban Bourbon came around…great way to test them in a race environment, even if I wasn’t racing this half marathon.
So, morning came around and I got dressed up and ate my breakfast – my usual bowl of cereal. Whatever gluten-free kind I have open. I did that…had a spot of coffee…drank some water…and got ready to go. The only thing I needed now was my BondiBand. It’s part of my race uniform. So I ended up going with a green one that said “Marathon Maniacs” on it. It worked. After a quick brush of my teeth, my extra clothes were grabbed and my banana for the start was picked up…I filled up my fuel belt with water and a new flavor of Gu (Vanilla Bean) to take halfway through…to practice some fueling. And then, Cathy and I headed for the car.
Surprisingly, parking was not an issue for this race. We picked the parking garage we parked in when I ran the Sports Commission Half Marathon two years ago, as it is right near the finish line for the race…and also very close to the start. So, it’s ideal, really. We got parked, gathered up everything and headed down to the staging area, in front of the KFC Yum Center. As we were crossing the street to go near the fountain, Natalie and Harry spotted us and yelled at us. We finished crossing and waited for them on the other side. They joined in and hugs were given. It feels like I lifetime since I had seen these two.
We all stood around for a little while…just talking and catching up. We spotted a woman dressed as a flapper (running gear style) and I thought it was fantastic. Then, to avoid port-a-potties…Harry, Natalie and I ducked over to the nearby Marriott to use their bathroom. I told you…I.AM.A.PRINCESS. Anyway…flushing toilets win every time. We met back where Cathy was holding down the fort and I snagged my banana to fuel…as we were 30 minutes out from the start of the race. Natalie had forgotten hers, but Cathy offered hers as she had other snacks for the day. We ate…we stretched…and eventually Harry and Natalie got out of their layers and just in their running gear. I was not wearing layers, LOL. So…I just had to hand over my hoodie.
Gear check was up next for them, so I wandered that way and while Natalie was in line, Harry and I stood to the side to chat a little. I was having a good time. The foot was a little…eh…but not bad. Taking it easy and just having a good run was all I wanted to do. It was all I needed to do. As Harry and I were turning to move onto the sidewalk, my friend who had been training for it was there. Just…there. She said a quick, quiet, “Hi” and turned away before I could utter anything other than “Hi” back. I wanted to at least wish her luck…didn’t have the chance.
From there….it was time to hit that starting corral. I stretched a little more, got a hug from Cathy as she was going to go get positioned at the start line to see us off, and then we stepped inside. The corral system has no system other than everyone gets inside. No pace groups. Nothing. Just find a spot and keep moving. I did a couple more stretches, was found by running friend Dennis (who I knew I couldn’t hang with because he all-out runs everything!), but we talked, waved to other people we knew, and then the National Anthem was played, beautifully, on a horn. I mean…beautiful. And with that…the starting gun went off…and so did we.
We made our way toward the start line before the initial jog started…then after we crossed…it was on. Cathy was on the sideline making noise and we waved as we passed…and immediately went around a turn. I wasn’t expecting that. HA! Usually these races that start in front of the Yum Center go straight down Main Street. Nope…the immediate turn onto 2nd Street sort of threw me for a loop. But…you just move with the crowd and go. We also dodged a police car and ended up hopping up on the sidewalk for some of that first mile. This is typical. The course is always crowded at the start and we just wanted to get into the groove. I let Natalie set the pace and off we went. The foot twinged only a couple of times. But I was laughing and having some fun. That was the point.
We made another turn onto E Mohammad Ali Blvd and the course opened up…a little. This was going to take us over to Lexington Road, sort of on the back side of Cave Hill Cemetery. I never really ran over there that much, so as we are going, I can’t help but comment about how I had no idea where we were, except that we were near Cave Hill. Once the wall disappeared from the scenery, I was totally lost. But, I subscribe to the “just run where everyone else is going” method of racing (I am NEVER the person in the lead!), and that’s always worked out well for me. I knew that at some point we hit Cherokee Park, so I figured things would start to look familiar soon enough.
I was right. We were coming up the Beargrass Creek Greenway…and ahead was the entrance to Cherokee Park, which I have actually run a couple times. Hitting the park was like finally getting back in familiar territory, despite the fact that we run the Scenic Loop backwards. I hate doing the Scenic Loop backwards…but…eh…whatever. So, together we made our way through Mile 4, and then diverge off the Scenic Loop briefly to run to a turn-around spot. Natalie wasn’t carrying a fuel belt, so we were doing water stops for her. She grabbed water at Mile 5 and we continued on. What I didn’t realize was that after we got back onto the normal course, we were sent up Barret Hill Road. I have never run this road. It has the word hill in it…so…heh…you know…
I did not know what I was getting myself into. I hadn’t run hills since Twin Cities (and I walked most of those to save my foot). I told Natalie she was going to have to get me through it. And she was behind me the entire time, telling me to keep going, that I was almost there. This climb was crazy. I didn’t think it was going to end. But when I reached the top, I put my hands up in victory, and she came up a moment later and we were back on track. I was surprised how well I handled the hill, honestly. We eventually were led back to the Scenic Loop and as we followed it around, up the hill toward Hogan’s Fountain…things started to get a little rough for Natalie. She began to have some problems with her hips. Not sure if was a cramping issue or just the whole…battle she has waged this past year…we eased the pace. She was hoping for some Gatorade at the water stop ahead, but they had only water. Because it sounded like she needed electrolytes and stat…I gave her the bottle on my fuel belt with my Nuun in it. We kept on moving, trolling the hills of the park…partying at the top of Dog Hill and curving off, hitting Alexander Road and Mile 7. I hadn’t fueled yet and Natalie needed to fuel…so, I grabbed my Gu pack and my water. I downed my gel as if it were going out of style. Vanilla Bean. Yuck. Too sweet. Glad I discovered that then. Natalie has to take hers in slowly, so we jogged while she took it in doses so as not to upset her stomach. We polished off the fuel and headed out onto Cherokee Parkway.
She was really starting to hurt now. I could tell. We eased the pace some more and kept on pushing. Near the area where Cherokee Parkway meets Grinstead, I spotted Laura. I ran up to her and could see she wasn’t feeling all that well. I asked how she was and she said she was a little lightheaded, so she slowed her pace and took some of her chews to see if that would help. She was hoping to see Michael soon…(he was in 3 different places on the course!)…and would figure things out from there. After making sure she didn’t need anything, Natalie and I turned onto Grinstead and started down the other side of Cave Hill Cemetery.
Then…came her knee pain. It was enough to bring her to a walk. So…we walked a little bit, giving her some time to ease up on the impact, pressure, and allowing a bit of recovery. She chose a sign to pick up the pace again, and we did for as long as she could. She told me to go on without her, but I never leave a runner behind and I was going to see her to that finish line. I wasn’t running this for time…I was running this for distance. So, whatever the clock said was not important to me. Seeing my friend finish…that was important.
We kept this run walk method going throughout much of the last five miles. I would find myself getting ahead of her and I would double back and pick her up…keep moving with her…let her know she was doing well. Focus on anything else but what was bothering her. She had put her headphones in. I think her music was on. I didn’t care. I was going to get her to that finish line. As we rounded onto Baxter Avenue, you would think a party was going on. Mony Mony was blaring, runners were having a blast dancing to it…and we joined in. It was a great pump-you-up song and perfect timing as we were heading toward Mile 10…and the last 5K of the race. Natalie had said if she could get to Mile 10, she knew she could finish. I knew she would finish even if she walked there. But we hit Mile 10 (she was behaving and not looking at timing clocks or her watch the entire time!) and I told her…we were almost home.
We were now running toward downtown now. I knew this course well. I’d done this part a dozen times on training runs. I was bursting with the energy of the race and I found myself up ahead. I would turn my head and locate Natalie. If she had fallen behind…I would loop around…if she was just a bit behind me…I’d jog in place or slow down until she got back to where I was. And this was how it worked for the last 3 miles. She was a trooper. We wanted to cross that finish line together, so it was my duty to make that happen. Run…walk…run…walk…all the way through the turns for Mile 12. One mile to go. I held up 1 finger as encouragement…and we went…down Main Street. I ran…I stopped to wait for her…I got her going. We were close. The crowd was getting louder. The finish line was ahead. I could see it. I could see it. She was struggling, so I reached back and took her hand. And together…we headed to that finish line, one step at a time…and crossed at the same time.
It was the perfect ending to the race. Natalie and I hugged. She stopped her watch and I stopped mine. And she said she PR’d by 5 minutes. Holy freakin’ cow!! I told her, “See what happens when you stop worrying about time and just go out and enjoy the run?” She nodded. She was hurting, but we moved through the finish area, collecting our medals and our foils. More hugs. I dropped her off at the First Aid tent…as she needed some ice for her knee. I continued on to meet up with Cathy, collecting some grapes, water, and chocolate milk along the way.
Harry, Me, and Natalie showing off our bling after running the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon, Louisville, Kentucky
I was so damn proud of Natalie. She really just pushed through and managed to achieve a new personal best without even trying. This is why I run every race for fun. Anything can happen on race day…so going in without high expectations means that I enjoy it and often do better than anticipated. I met up with Cathy and did a bit of stretching. I had the opportunity to talk with my friend Brant (who was pacing a friend of his through his first half marathon!) for a bit…and then we went to find Natalie and Harry for pictures. They were going for pizza afterwards for their recovery lunch. Cathy and I hit up Whole Foods for soup…keeping it light because that evening we were meeting up with her sister, Amanda, to eat Indian food at Shalimar and then go on the Pumpkin Walk at Iroquois Park (which was AMAZING and I want to do it again next year!).
So, as it stands, I finished the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon in 2:00:21, crossing that finish line hand-in-hand with Natalie. Honestly…I still smile. I was 837/2777 finishers. I was 283/1553 women to cross the finish line. And I was 59/298 in my division. I’ll take it. Because this was not a run for time. This was a run to just enjoy…train…see how the foot would hold up. And I ended up helping my friend to an amazing finish. I wouldn’t have traded that for the world.
I am a bit behind on blogging these days…but it just seems everything is spiraling into chaos at the moment. I’ve been so busy. And the main reason is…
…THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON IS ON SUNDAY!!
Granted, I’ve run a full marathon and a half marathon only since my injury in July. The foot did awful coming out of the marathon, but the half marathon…I felt great. I needed that. I didn’t race it…I ran with a friend…and I got to that finish line without having any issues with the foot.
PROGRESS!
That being said…no training has happened. I took a full 2 weeks off from any activity after I ran Twin Cities…and slowly began to resume gym machines, swimming, and some mild cardio. But not running. The foot was hurting. As it began to ease…I worked in a week of short 1 mile runs…
Then I was given a free entry into a local half marathon…so I decided if I ran easy and just focused on a run/walk plan…I could do it. Besides, I sort of needed a double-digit run before hitting the streets of New York, right? Well…it went well. I’ll write on that more next week…
For now…I’m packing…doing laundry…and just getting things together because tomorrow…I am flying out to New York City because on Sunday…I am going to be running through the 5 boroughs. I will also be taking pictures along the way. I can’t run what I didn’t train for…so time to just take in New York.
On an interesting note, the 1 millionth finisher is expected to cross the finish line this year…around 4:00-4:10. Hmmm…
Until then…THIS…is what keeps me super psyched. Check it out…because I’ve been watching it every day to get psyched to run, run, run!!
Tell me that doesn’t make you want to run this marathon!!
Me heading for the Finish Line of the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
Race: Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
Place: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
Date: October 5, 2014
Time:3:51:52
“One thing about racing is that it hurts. You better accept that from the beginning or you’re not going anywhere.” – Bob Kennedy
Pushing through the pain is not my style. Doing damage to myself is not something I strive to do. I don’t believe in pushing myself to the point of puking when it comes to running. My body is my temple and I am trying, through this blasted foot injury, to keep it moving, going, and getting strong. The last thing on my to-do list is…get hurt…more/again.
So…this was certainly on my mind when I boarded a plane to Minneapolis, Minnesota last Friday. Honestly. My custom orthodics were doing more damage and causing more pain than they should have been. I had been in to see the podiatrist twice since getting them, and had them readjusted. I was still limping throughout the day…something that got worse as I moved about the Louisville airport. I’m sure part of that was the 15 pound backpack I was carrying around, but it seemed the more I stepped, the worse it got. And thanks to that fire at the air traffic control tower in Chicago, the flight leaving Louisville was delayed by 2 hours. And then…once we got to Midway, we had another delay, which wouldn’t put is in Minneapolis until past midnight. I hated to do this to my aunt, Jan, who graciously was coming out to get us…but that’s how air travel through Chicago is currently working. And it sucked.
That being said, the security line in Louisville was non-existent for a Friday. Barely any wait time. And then the delay meant we had plenty of time to kill. So, Cathy and I decided we would find something to eat for dinner. We were originally going to do that at Midway…but…now it made sense to do it here. Cathy ended up getting some soup from Chili’s and I ate an apple and a gluten-free granola bar that I brought with me. I figured it could at least hold me to Midway, right? Right. Then, I got out my Moji 360 Mini Massager and had Cathy help me roll it across the bottom of my foot, which is where most of the pain was happening at that moment. It hurt…like…a lot. It would have to do for the time being. We walked around a bit more (there is only so much to do at the Louisville airport…trust me)…until we finally got to line up to get on the plane. Guess what? I was A1. HAHA! First on the plane after the special boarding for those traveling alone or in need of assistance. Awesome. On Southwest Airlines…the closer to the front of the plane, the better. Even if I knew we were in no hurry to catch a flight at Midway. It was the fact that for the first (and probably only) time…I was A1.
Thumbs down for left foot pain at the airport on the way to Minneapolis. This is one very unhappy runner…
The flight to Midway was dull and uninteresting, which is how I prefer flights. Even the landing was smooth and perfect. We disembarked and went to check the screen. Yes…definitely delayed. So…time to do more hiking around. As we were doing so, I started limping even more. My foot was killing me. Cathy made a suggestion…telling me to take the orthodic out of my left shoe, since it seemed to be doing more harm than good. I had no inserts for my shoe…but, I figured it couldn’t hurt any worse, and if it did, I could put the orthodic back in. It actually offered a small amount of relief. Just a little. But it was definitely more tolerable. I just want to interject that the orthodics were supposed to help me move pain-free. These particular ones fail. On the Wednesday before leaving, I had gone back in for further adjustment on the orthodic for that foot and my podiatrist ended up calling the orthodic place and telling them he had an elite marathoner and they suggested recasting the orthodic, but with some posts that will give more stability and can be adjusted. Problem…they wouldn’t be in before I left for Minneapolis. So, we went over how to tape the shit out of my foot for stability and he wished me luck. He didn’t tell me not to do it…which I appreciated it…but not being able to do it was definitely weighing heavy on my mind as I hobbled through the terminals of Midway in Chicago. To amuse ourselves, Cathy and I did spot a really cute sailor in the navy…and stalked him for a little while. He was gorgeous. But…we lost him after he ducked into a bakery place. Dang. We grabbed a small snack and settled in on the floor of our gate to wait on the plane coming in so we could then board it and fly to Minnesota.
And when it finally happened, I was tired and cranky. I took the front row of the plane, shoving my bag in the overhead compartment for the extra leg room instead. I fell in and out of consciousness…long day…having been up since 3:30 a.m. to finish packing and get to my spin class at the gym by 5:15 a.m. But…as I drifted back into consciousness…the clouds now looked like some crazy test pattern…and Cathy pointed out that it WAS SNOWING! SNOW! I don’t even like the sound of it. You guys all know that me and cold weather are like oil and water. We just don’t work well together. SNOW!! UGH!! Thankfully, it was only snow above the clouds…because as we finally began our descent into Minneapolis, it was rain. Just rain. Thank goodness. But…DAMN…it was cold. When I had packed for the race, my weather channel app still told me race morning would be in the low 40s. But now it was in the 30s. I wasn’t really prepared for weather in the 30s for running, so I said if I had to I would purchase something to wear at the expo on Saturday morning. That was the plan.
Jan found us at the baggage claim, and thankfully the bags didn’t take too long to come through. We were off to the car, then making our way to my grandpa’s house. She had the room set up, and Cathy took the air mattress. I set an alarm for 7:30 a.m. and made plans with my friend, Heather, to get together for the expo. She was going to pick Cathy and I up at my grandpa’s home in the morning and we would go and get my race packet and check out the expo. I figured we’d go from there…probably returning home. But first…sleep.
Saturday morning came and I was up with my alarm. I heard my grandpa moving about and ended up settling in on the couch. He asked if I wanted to go play Bingo with him at the grocery store. I normally would…but I was still in my pajamas and not in any way ready to go out in public. I hadn’t even had breakfast (which Jan was kind enough to hit up the Cub Foods the night before to get me some gluten-free bagels, vegan cream cheese, and some Greek yogurt)…so he went off without me. I ate some yogurt while toasting the bagels in the oven (no cross-contamination!). Cathy and I ate breakfast, got dressed, brushed teeth and made ourselves presentable. I grabbed the race packet that arrived in the mail with my Bib Number and Corral listed. And then we waited for Heather. Heather texted around the time she was going to leave and said she was running late…so we just sort of settled. Grandpa returned from Bingo, having won a $10 gift card to the grocery store. My aunt emerged from her basement living space and she and Grandpa prepared to head out to some Man Cave car show thing. They gave me a house key, in case we made it back before them, and they went off.
Heather arrived soon after and Cathy and I locked up the house and climbed into the car. Heather took us into Saint Paul and we parked in a street lot, which was supposedly $10, but due to it being the weekend, ended up being only $4. WOOHOO! Love it. We made our way from the car to the Saint Paul RiverCentre where the Health and Wellness Expo was being hosted. We ducked inside and made our way toward the back where the race packets were being handed out. I was…actually surprised. The expo was really massive. Much bigger than any of the much smaller expos I have gone through in Minnesota. This wasn’t quite Chicago size…but it was really massive with a lot of vendors. I spotted the Newton booth and knew I needed some new shoes (not to wear on Sunday…but in general)…and made a note to stop by there. The race packet was important and I stepped up near the first line as I was Bib #1306 and in the first corral to be sent off. NICE! Just wish I felt like I belonged there. Damn foot. The volunteer checked my race information packet and my ID before retrieving my bag, which contained a pair of socks…no race shirt. I was…sad. I really was. All of this and no race shirt??!! I handed the bag over to Cathy and pulled out my envelope with the chip I needed to attach to my shoe so I could go and run it over the sensor to make sure it was activated. It worked. Time to shop.
I actually didn’t go too crazy here. The three of us methodically worked our way up and down the aisles, grabbing free samples and playing a few giveaway games. That’s how I won Minute Rice. And a cowbell. LOL! Cathy actually told me to win the cowbell…and when I spun the wheel…I just happened to land on that spot. Go me. The same thing happened at the Minute Rice booth. I guess I was lucky on Saturday. We stocked up on freebies…checked out some races that were represented, and just kept moving. Since I had no race shirt, I had to duck into the merchandise area and purchase one. I wasn’t really happy with the meager selection left in my size…but found a couple that I liked. I bought one…and, being the awesome BFF that she is, Heather got me the other one as a belated birthday gift. We grabbed some free Caribou Coffee and headed out.
Heather taking me on a drive through the race route the afternoon before. SO helpful!
Heather had a really great idea…to drive as much of the course that we possibly could…depending on road closures. With my foot not feeling great, I was still not certain I’d be able to race or run…but thought this was a good way to take a look at what lay ahead of me. We quickly ducked into a record store for Cathy to check out some stuff, and then headed out to get back to Minneapolis and drive from start to finish. This was the first time I had ever done this, but it gave me a chance to get a feel for the areas I would be taking on the following morning. We started off, with the understanding that I would walk the hills and run the rest of it. This was the plan. So…off we went. And, let me tell you, there were plenty of hills that awaited me. But the tour of the course was one of the best things I ever did. And with Heather as a guide, I knew when to just really take in my surroundings, which side I needed to be on, and what points she and Cathy were going to attempt to see me along the way the next morning. This took a bit of time, but we got it done and it was really good to have all of that in mind.
My cousin, Molly, was working with Jan to get a dinner together with some of the family. We were going to check out Pizza Luce, which is one of the area’s highest rated pizza place…and yes…they have a gluten-free pizza. Naturally. After the disaster that was Pizza Ranch the last time I raced in Minneapolis…this was hopefully going to be better. We arrived early, so ducked over to Target because I needed some cheap throwaway gloves for the cold morning on Sunday. After that, we returned to Pizza Luce and joined my cousin Molly, her hubby, her three kids, my cousin Andy and his wife…and my aunt arrived last. We were seated (thanks to Molly making a reservation) very quickly and all just started talking. It had been over a year since I was last up there (I ran the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon the last time) and we had so much to talk about. Molly had just had a baby a couple months ago and Andy had just gotten married. So…yeah…lots happening. We all ordered some food (Cathy, Heather, and I hadn’t had anything since breakfast so we were hungry and it was after 5 pm now). I ended up getting the Gluten Free Wild Mushroom and Arugula Pizza and split it with Cathy. It was really good. We didn’t linger too long afterwards. It had been a long day, I was tired and sore, Heather needed to get home, and I still had to go see my cousin Natalie, who was coming by my grandpa’s house. So we all went our separate ways, with Molly and Co. heading to grandpa’s as well for a little while…YAY! It was good to get together with my cousins. And Natalie wore her “I Run Marathons” shirt (even though she doesn’t…but said it felt appropriate!). We sat and talked and played with the kids…until it was time to turn in. Cathy remembered to really tape the hell out of my foot, ankle, and calf that night…so I was pretty well set for the early morning that awaited us.
Cathy’s mummification of my foot/ankle/leg for better stability. It worked!
At 4:00 a.m. my first alarm went off. I got up and got some stuff together…did my normal first alarm routine…then went back to sleep for a little longer. In that short span of time, I had a dream about the race and being the last person across the start line. Craziness. At 5:00 a.m…the actual alarm went off. I got up to get the oven preheated and to get changed into my race clothes. As it was really flippin’ cold up outside…after I suited up, I put my yoga pants back on and went ahead and put on my hoodie. I changed that out for my fleece I brought, just in case, before we left. I realized that morning that I didn’t have my cereal with me to eat pre-race, so I decided, if this race happened, I would be run-walking it…then having something different that morning couldn’t hurt too much. So, it was Greek yogurt with a gluten-free bagel and vegan cream cheese. I ate slowly, so as not to upset my tummy and just sort of flexed my foot a little…trying to decide if I was going to do it or not. In the end…I was dressed and fed, so I grabbed a banana, my fuel belt, and we left my grandpa’s house in my aunt’s car and headed into the city.
Finding parking was actually not a problem. I was surprised. Cathy located a great parking garage that was close to the start without being one that would be hell to get out of later. Love that. We parked and headed out into the cold Minnesota air, hearing the announcer talk about the start of the 10 Mile race, or as they like to call it…the “Shortcut to the Capitol” was gearing up to leave. Runners for the 10 Miler were getting in their corrals, so we headed over that way to see them off. Got there just as the National Anthem was finishing up and soon…Corral 1 was off. Just like that. We felt a bit in the way…so after a few clangs of a cowbell and some cheering, we meandered back to where the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon was going to start. There was going to be a Marathon Maniac’s picture at the entrance of Corral 3…but I didn’t make it back that way in time. Instead, I peeled my banana…and began moving up again through the corrals. And, just as we were getting up to where the Start Line was…here comes Heather! YAY! She had texted/called my phone, which I had given to Cathy so I didn’t obsess over it, but somehow Cathy missed it. Regardless…she found us just in time. We moved through the onslaught of runners heading in the opposite direction so that she and Cathy could find a spot to stand to see me off. They found a great spot too, just past the media on the corner. We took a few pictures with the Start Line…and then I finally had to shed my warm jacket and pants…and start getting acclimated. I got hugs from both and got some photos snapped so they could post them on Facebook…and then…I was off to get situated in Corral 1.
I am not going to lie…I was freezing. I moved to the back of the corral to start…but then ended up moving up little-by-little until I found an open spot somewhere in the middle near the left side. I promised that I would stretch when I got in my corral, and I kept that promise. If there is one thing I have learned, it is how powerful and important that stretching is. As I was finishing that up, I heard a “Hi Maniac!” coming from behind me. For the record, I was wearing my Marathon Maniac’s singlet. Anyway…it was a very nice guy, also a member of the Marathon Maniacs, and he said that I looked cold. I told him I was cold and he laughed and said I must not be from Minnesota. Very observant. HA! We chatted for a bit, and then he went in search of more Maniacs. I decided I didn’t like being that far back in the corral and moved up some more…and then some more…and a little bit more. I just got settled in a new spot when the announcer came on and welcomed us to the race. The National Anthem was sung, off key, but it was there…and then…we were sent off at exactly 8:00 a.m.
It didn’t take too long for me to cross that start line and I immediately hung at the left so I could see Cathy and Heather. I did…and they were loud and cheered just as loud for me. This was the first time in over a week that I had ventured out for a run. Seriously. And I wasn’t sure what my foot would do. The anti-inflammatory I took that morning seemed to be doing its job. There was a slight bit of pain…but nothing I hadn’t run through before. I was off…and starting the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon – which is known as The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America.
My strategy was simple…run when I could…walk when I had to…and if I had to crawl…I’d do that…but I committed to running this by crossing that start line, and I would do my best to see the race to the finish. I told Cathy that morning, I wasn’t sure I could finish…and not to get mad if I dropped out. She said she wouldn’t be mad, but she wanted to be sure I wouldn’t be mad at myself. I was certain I would be…but if I hurt, I wasn’t going to do further damage to myself. The goal was to treat this as training…and that was my entire goal. In fact, I started off at a very easy pace, I thought…but I realized my first mile was sub-8…so I backed off on that second mile and relaxed. I didn’t worry about pace or anything else…I just ran how I felt. That was the only thing I could do.
Prior to this race, I had managed to do one training run of 13.1 miles, on the day after my birthday. That was a good 3 weeks prior to this run. I struggled, having not run any double digit runs since July. I told myself I would go mile-by-mile and just assess how I was feeling. If anything, I could at least get halfway through. I had done it before…albeit on a foot that hurt less…but the more I was out there, the more I loosened up and the better I felt. I hit the 5K mark at 25:23…not great, but not bad for someone who has barely run. The next gauge was the 10K mark and that came just after we ran around the second lake on the course. Let me take a moment here to say that this course is stunning. Gorgeous. The leaves are changing in Minnesota…bright oranges and reds…all canopied overhead as you take to the streets of the city. People were everywhere to cheer. There wasn’t really a lull in the crowds at all throughout the entire thing. And the energy was just what I needed that morning. I hit the 10K mark at 50:02. And kept on going. I was really just loving the run. I was feeling okay…minor pain if any…and taking it all in. I just kept moving…and as I was making the turn at Mile 11…Heather and Cathy were there…and they were just screaming! That was just what I needed then, and I smiled, waved, and on I went. They were heading to Mile 17…as we previously discussed. Mile 11 was a nice surprise.
Mile 17 Cheer Squad: Paul, Heather, Grandpa, Jan (not pictured: Cathy…who took the pic)
Perseverance and sheer stubbornness propelled me through to the halfway point. I hit the 13.1 mile mark at 1:46:10…which is rather good, if you’re asking me. I knew that had been the furthest I had managed to train, so my common sense kicked in, and I chose to run the second half with my head…not my heart. This meant, slow the pace, walk the hills, just keep going forward. And, I immediately did just that. I turned what had started as a beautiful and nearly perfect run into a walk-run. I walked the hills. I walked when my feet hurt. I ran in between. I just started to push myself to play this smart. The last thing I needed to do was get injured again or aggravate something even further. Yes…I am aware that running a marathon was probably not the best way to avoid this…but this one was important. And as I ran…then walked…then ran through the next few miles…the reason I was out there finally made an appearance.
It was Mile 17. I knew Heather and Cathy were going to be there. But what I saw as I headed just past the Clif Shot Energy Zone was more than this little bucket of emotions could handle. There, clapping, making some noise…and just being the epitome of awesome…was my peeps. Cathy, Heather, my friend Paul, my aunt Jan…and yes…grandpa! Finally, my grandpa was well enough to make it out to see me run. I was just thankful that at that point I was running. HAHA! I picked up the pace when I saw them. I picked it up more as I heard them. And I touched my heart and held my arms up to them as I ran past. It wasn’t sunny at that point, but I was thankful to have my sunglasses on, because when I saw my grandpa standing there, I cried. Tears. Just…gone. I took a few deep breaths and regained my composure. I had 9 more miles ahead of me until I saw my peeps again…as I knew that at least Cathy and Heather would be at the finish line. Time to dig deep, dig in, and finish what I started.
The next two miles ran parallel to the Mississippi River. At Mile 19, we crossed over the river via a bridge and started down the other side. I knew that at Mile 20.5, my friend Kristen was stationed, having run the 10 miler that morning. She said she’d watch for me, and knowing that she was waiting was what propelled me onward. I also knew that around Mile 20, the beginning of epic 200 foot climb over the next 3 miles was about to begin. I saw the water station ahead and suddenly, Kristen, clad all in green, shouted. I was thrilled and ran over to her. We hugged…and she told me I looked great and to keep going. I did. How could I not after getting a hug when I was feeling so down? It lifted my spirits and my mood. I really needed that.
But the hugging and love didn’t stop there. Nope. Another friend of mine, Julie, was a course marshal between Miles 22-23. And she somehow managed to spot me in the crowd as well. I heard her shout and looked up…and rushed over to her for more hugs. She again sent me on my way, saying that I looked good and was doing great. I love my friends. Honestly. When I was struggling…when I was beating myself up…someone…a friend or a stranger…was there to encourage me. Even those simply spectating…when I’d start to walk a hill, I would hear, “Good job 1306! One foot in front of the other. Keep going. You’re almost there. Proud of you!” I teared up a few times. This race was an emotional roller coaster for me.
But, I was close now. I was within the last 5K. I kept saying I would just run the entire way, but the run-walk intervals had taken their toll and my legs were really starting to feel it. My feet hurt…and I was just determined at this point to finish. I wasn’t doing this one for time…this one was for me. This one was for my grandpa! This one was training. It had to be! The next few miles ticked by…slow and steady…and as I came into the heart of St. Paul, the crowds lifted me up and carried me that last mile. I was getting closer. I could hear the announcer. Down a hill and straight on to the finish line. I saw Heather and Cathy on my right and they were screaming for me. I held my hands up against my chest in the shape of a heart as I started to cry again. Honestly, friends see you through so much in life. I was hoping to see my grandpa there again, but my aunt took him home. The finish was ahead, so after I passed them I focused on making it to that line. I crossed…in a miraculous 3:51:52.
How I pulled that off is beyond me…but as I walked away from the camera…the tears flowed. Yep…I cried…and hobbled through the finisher’s area. I was handed my medal, which was placed around my neck. I was given a Mylar blanket and some water. A banana. Salty snacks…and urged toward the area for the finisher photographs. From there…I got my Finisher’s t-shirt. Yes…this is brilliant. At the Twin Cities Marathon, you don’t get your finisher’s shirt until you…*gasp*…FINISH! Great incentive, yes? I got through with that and managed to find the Caribou Coffee tent. I got a cup of coffee…because it’s Caribou Coffee and I was still cold. You know I am still cold when I cross a marathon finish line still wearing my makeshift arm warmers and my toss away gloves. HA! And then, I slowly started to make my way to the Family Reunion Area. My feet hurt. My entire body hurt. But I was done. I had done it…despite having my own doubts about my abilities.
As I was making my way up the incline toward the Letter X (our standard go-to for meeting), a man handed me a plastic bag to put all the stuff that runners get in the finishing area. I thanked him and was able to make my way up a little easier now. Cathy spotted me, dropped her sign and came running my way to give me a hug. I started crying again. She said she was so proud of me and we walked up to where Heather was holding down the fort. More hugs and high praise! I was on Cloud Nine! We laid out my Mylar blanket and I sat down. Cathy went to work changing my shoes from my Newtons to my Adidas Boosts and getting me straight into compression socks.
Cathy, Me, and Heather after the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
And, for a moment, my elation…my joy…went away. A quick glance at my cell phone…where I was showered with so many words of encouragement and love and people telling me how proud they were of me…and one person made it all seem so…meaningless. I set my phone down…took a deep breath…and listened to Heather and Cathy about letting it go. I did something remarkable…and to focus only on that. Then they started bragging about me to people. Seriously, these two are awesome! Heather helped stretch me out and get my legs up after she called the restaurant we were looking at for a possible place to eat lunch. My stomach wanted nothing to do with food at the moment, but I knew in about 30 minutes I’d need something. Perfect timing…they said they were in between rushes.
We hung on the lawn for a moment more, then headed down the streets of St. Paul to meet up with…Paul…who was back from his Mile 17 appearance and ready to join us for some celebratory pub grub (which is starting to become a tradition…either that or Mexican). I went into the bathroom and changed and joined my friends for some amazing food. Recovery was happening. After we ate and split THE BEST DESSERT EVER…we went our separate ways. I went back to grandpa’s house to shower and then we headed to the Mall of America…because I needed to keep moving and what better place to get your walk on? I ended up treating myself to a new dress from the former Bettie Page store (now called Tatyana). I rock this dress! Thanks for making me try it on, Heather! After shopping, we went our separate ways. It was, honestly, worth every doubt that ever came into my mind.
My official time for the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon was 3:51:52. I was 2351 out of 8852 finishers overall. I was the 712/3996 female to cross the finish line. And I was 145/703 in my age division to finish. Not too shabby at all. Is it the race I wanted? Certainly not. But it was my favorite marathon to date for so many reasons. Mostly…because despite being unable to perform up to my potential…I never gave up…and there were people who saw me through. Not just those I knew…but strangers too. And there is something so uplifting and so…amazing about that in the end. Most of all, I’m glad that the third time was the charm, and my grandpa finally had a chance to see me run. He has run the Twin Cities Marathon quite a few times, so this one was special in that aspect too!
And now…it’s all about recovery…because NYC awaits…
My grandpa, Howard A. Brady, in his 1993 Twin Cities Marathon Finisher’s shirt and medal and me in my 2014 gear! Running…it’s a generational thing!
Me crossing the finish line of the Capital City Stampede 10K – Frankfort, Kentucky
Race: Capital City Stampede 10K
Place: Frankfort, Kentucky
Date: June 14, 2014
Time:44:03
Your eyes do not deceive you. That is a brand spankin’ new 10K PR! I couldn’t believe it. I honestly couldn’t believe it. Believe me, after the week I’ve had…I couldn’t be happier! And this is once again proof of how important it is to take those rest days. Rest brings magic. And it was not easy to skip my Friday morning spin class…but…I am getting back into the habit of obeying and respecting those days of rest.
Guess it worked.
Yes…it’s that time again. The final race of the Frankfort Trifecta Run/Walk Series. The first race was a 3K, the second was a 5K, and the final leg…a 10K. Now…I don’t know if you know this or not…but I absolutely despise the 10K distance. I hate it. It’s just…not long enough for my legs to get warmed up, but I can’t sprint it either. UGH! Damn you 10K distance. But, I don’t care when it comes to this race. Because I love running in Frankfort. I have met so many great people there…been able to run with them…run their streets. I’ve forged so many friendships through running, and I count myself lucky to know so many people in Frankfort.
So…this meant an early morning to allow for proper travel time. I got up early enough to do my PT stretches, drink some tea, take in water, put on sunscreen, drink some coffee, eat cereal, brush teeth, get out the door. The ride to Frankfort actually went quickly. Seriously. I was just flipping through one of my magazines and before I knew it, we were exiting and making a stop at the Kroger to get pre-race bananas and allow me to use a flushing toilet (because I’m a princess!). With all of that accomplished, it was off to the State Capitol Building…which was where the race starts.
I got into the line to pick up my packet. And it was while I was standing there that Linda found me. It was hugs all around. We talked about the race and she mentioned that she broke the cardinal rule…and did her first kettlebell class on Thursday night and now her legs were screaming at her. She, much like me, figured kettlebell was more upper body. Whoops. Anyway…I was being called up to get my bib number and my goodie bag, so I told her I’d catch her in a bit and we parted ways.
For being a runner who completed the three-race series, I also received a mug. Awesome! Cathy and I walked these back to the car. It was 30 minutes to start time…so I peeled my banana and gave that a good noshing while we moved. I finished it up at the car. Good timing. Cathy dug some safety pins out of the race bag she carries and pinned me up. I zipped up my hoodie (YES…a hoodie…because it was about 49°F this morning!) and we meandered back down toward the start line.
This year…there was actually a start/finish line. A big black and white checkered inflatable arch. Awesome. Moving on up, Capital City Stampede!! Looking good! We stood at the top of the circle where I did a few stretches and high knees, getting my limbs as warmed up as possible. I hate stretching, but since my injury in the winter, I’ve embraced stretching and don’t just half-ass it anymore. Even days I want to skip them or just do the bare minimum. Nope. Not anymore. About 10 minutes before race time, Cathy sent me for some strides down the hill and back up to the line, just to get my legs warmed up.
Why?
Because I’ve had the right hamstring from hell this past week. All week, my hamstring hasn’t hurt, but…it’s felt so tight. So, that was my biggest concern going into this. My legs weren’t wanting to fire like they normally should or would. Another reason I’ve been taking on my stretches, my foam rolling, and even using the dreaded “stick” on my hamstrings. It was still tight this morning, but you just work with what you have, right? Right!
Five minutes to race time and I get into the starting area. I’m a few rows back from the guy holding the 6:00 MILE pace sign. No…I’m not that fast. But I was standing in the middle between that guy and the lady holding the 8:00 MILE sign. So, I felt I was in a good spot. The start area was filling up now, with lots of chatter going on. Even though I don’t live or train in Frankfort, I’ve never had a difficult time making friends at a race. And I overheard some people talking about those relay races that happen and someone mentioned the Market to Market one, which my friend Kelsie wants me to run with her on her team (and I’m really hoping I get to do so!), so we talked about that while the start was delayed…because the roads needed to be completely cleared for the safety of us runners! And they said some people were sneaking through. When the okay was given…we were off…without much of a warning!
I started my Garmin late…oh well…
“ONLY SIX MORE MILES TO GO!”
I was off. Immediately tackling an uphill climb. Up…up…up…around the Capitol…around the back…and then…the downhill. I was feeling okay. I felt like I was struggling a bit, but I was focusing on my form and my breathing. Neither of which were very good at this point. HA! As I’m coming down the hill, I see Cathy on the sideline and hear her shout, “GO TWIN! YOU’RE ALMOST DONE! ONLY SIX MORE MILES TO GO!” It cracked me up and I threw my hands up in agreement and continued to pound that pavement.
I didn’t feel like I was hitting that first mile very hard, but apparently…I was. When my watch beeped on my first mile, I had covered it in 6:54. My entire intention was to ease into the race. Run the first two miles slow, pick it up, then kick it at the end. That wasn’t happening. But the pace was set and while I didn’t look at my watch to know what I was running (I never look at my pace), I did know that it was faster than I would have liked to run it…so I eased up. But not by much. In fact, I didn’t officially ease up until Mile 4.
This was a fantastic course, in my opinion. We ran around the Capitol…then down the straightaway, across a bridge and then we sort of did the last part of the Pro.Active For Life 5K portion downtown. But, we go beyond that and head further into the downtown area. It’s fun to see people come out of the shops and cheer people on. There may not be a lot of crowd support in Frankfort, but what is there is vocal. And that makes this place special. Mile 3 had us heading back toward the Capitol, but turning away to run down this long stretch of road.
I call this the hardest part of the race. From around Mile 3.1 to Mile 6.1 it’s three miles of…NOTHING. Runners are sent down past a few homes, under a parking garage of sorts, then down this winding road (and hill that we will have to run back up!) into open country, it seems. It’s hard because there really is nothing out there. Just you, the road, one water stop (which was manned by two very adorable little girls!), and the runners. It was just past Mile 4 that I saw the leader (Adam…as always!) heading back the other way. He had a huge lead. Like…seriously! I kept waiting to see that second place runner behind him…but there was no one there. Not for a good long while. But then they came…and not long after that…with a biker beside her, the lead female…Kendall Hayes (no surprise…she’s even faster than lightning this year!). There was a female just slightly ahead of me (she was WAY ahead of me at the start, so I really closed the gap). She made the turn…then a couple of seconds later…I made the turn.
As we were nearing the 5 mile marker, I had two runners tell her she was second female overall and that I was third female as we ran past them. That was encouraging. Mile 5 clicked by and Greg, the runner just slightly behind me the entire time picked up his pace and said to me, “We can catch her!” That made me smile. “I don’t know!” I said. But, the gap was closing…and he did go on and pass her…and I was hot on her heels as we climbed the hill, ran back under the parking garage thingy…where a car pulled out in front of us. What. The. Hell. Damn truck. But, we moved on. We made the curve and I could see, up ahead, the lights that marked the road we’d turn on to run…up a hill…to the finish line.
My legs were screaming. For the first time ever, I had a calf muscle wanting to cramp up. It didn’t…but it felt off. My hamstring was fighting me. My quad was tight…but I pushed it. She just pushed harder. I heard Cathy screaming at the finish line and I crossed…just a few seconds after her.
With a new PR.
I’ll take it!
Kendall Hays (first female overall), Jennifer Watson (second female overall), and Me (third female overall)
Cathy came around and immediately congratulated me on closing the gap so much on the female ahead of me. Then she told me to go grab some water…which I happily did. I was running as fast as I ran my half marathon before I ran Buffalo…but this just felt…so much harder. My splits were not the way I wanted…the first two miles being the fastest, the middle two being the slowest, and the last two being the last ditch effort to maintain some semblance of my strong pace. Go figure. We decided to take a walk, but I stopped and said Linda wasn’t too far behind me and I wanted to see her finish.
We got to that finish line just in time as she was powering up the hill for a strong finish! I was screaming for her the entire way and she finished strong. She was happy with her finish, despite no new PR for her. And we took a short walk together before she turned around to go cheer her sister in to her finish. Cathy and I finished our circling of the Capitol building and went to grab some water from the McDonalds table. We went to settle in on the steps and heard the announcement for free McDonalds sandwiches. While I couldn’t eat them, Cathy said it would be way better than her protein bar. So, I went to grab her one. I asked which one was the sausage biscuit…but they told me wrong. Cathy was okay with her egg biscuit though, because she said the biscuit was the best part. I noshed on the Quest Chocolate Peanut Butter High Protein Bar. It was a bit chewier than I expected, and I’m assuming it’s because it melted once and then solidified. We’ll see when I try the next one. But it wasn’t bad at all. My jaw just got tired of chewing for so long. But, it was something more than cereal and a banana…and that was what I needed.
Me with my awards for finishing Third Overall Women in the Capital City Stampede 10K (plaque) and for finishing the 2014 Trifecta Series as the First Overall Woman in the Open category.
As the final person crossed the finish line, they were getting ready to hand out awards. They started with the overall winners…and when the females were announced…it was Kendall as first…Jennifer Watson as second female overall (by 10 seconds on my time!)…and then…ME! For the second year in a row, I came in as the Third Female Overall in the Capital City Stampede! Proud of myself. Proud of the ladies I ran with. Kendall is always amazing and I don’t know who Jennifer is, but she ran a hard race and really pushed me.
Then…the age group awards were handed out…and Linda won her age division!! Fantastic!! I high fived her. They went through the age divisions backwards…and I cheered and applauded for everyone! Hey…they earned it.
And then…it was time for awards for the Frankfort Trifecta. And coming in first for the women for the entire Frankfort Trifecta was…Kendall! BUT…for the second year in a row, I came won the Female Open Division for the race series!! YAY! Both of my titles…maintained! So happy!
So…the official results of the Capital City Stampede 10K are that I finished with a new 10K PR of 44:03. WOOHOO!! I managed to shave almost a minute and a half off my previous 10K time. NICE! I was 20/322 finishers of the 10K run overall. And, I was the 3rd female finisher overall for that race. Surprised. Content. Happy! Really happy!
Really looking forward to returning to this race series again. This is my series. It involves some drive time, but I always have found it worth it. So much fun. Great city. Great people. Great time! Is it any wonder I love to run in this city? I’ll be back Frankfort Trifecta. Next year!! Already counting down the days!
Me and Kat crossing the finish line at the Buffalo Marathon – Buffalo, New York. This picture encapsulates everything about the marathon. (Photo Credit: Diane Sardes)
Race: Buffalo Marathon
Place: Buffalo, New York
Date: May 25, 2014
Time:4:32:44*
“When you cross the finish line, no matter how slow or fast, it will change your life forever.” – Spirit of the Marathon
I want to point out the asterisks above, as this race was not one that I was running at my normal marathon pace. Nope. I agreed back in March to pace two of my friends, Kat and Janelle, to their hopes of a sub-4 finish in the Buffalo Marathon. This race was not about me or my goals…this was all about them. And I took this responsibility very seriously, mind you! I trained as I would if I were going to be the one racing…meaning all of my training runs I did as though I were running this race at my pace. I didn’t want to over-train or get cocky and think that I could run more because this race wasn’t going to be done at my “normal” pace. Nope. Like I said…I take my job as a pacer very, very seriously.
I know what you’re doing. You’re looking at that finish time and wondering what went wrong.
Well…I will get to that. And then I will reflect on what this race has taught me, in general, about the human spirit and the spirit of the marathon. But…let me start at the very beginning.
Fridays are usually hectic as it is, but this Friday just put me out-of-my-mind. I had tried to do most of my packing on Thursday, but I still had plenty to do that morning…plus a date with my spinning class at 5:30 a.m. Go figure. As I was racing on Sunday, I went to class, but kept the heavy down and just did what I was comfortable with. I didn’t want to wear out these legs. I had two people counting on me and I wasn’t about to let them down. I thought about skipping my class, but I figured I’d be in a car most of Saturday, so as long as I didn’t put too much resistance on the bike…I’d be fine.
I did manage to get everything packed up and loaded into the car. But I wasn’t Buffalo bound yet. New York was going to have to wait. I had to go to work for the entire day first. Then…then I could start my journey toward my sixth marathon this year. Whew. I headed into the office and made little to no use of my standing desk, once again, trying to keep as much pressure off these legs as possible. I wanted to get to that start line feeling ready and relaxed. It worked. I got through the entire work day without any issues, then packed up and headed out at 4:30 p.m. to head up to Columbus, Ohio. Jenn was going to make this journey with us for the marathon, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. YAY! But…this meant enduring the ride up to Columbus. But first…I stopped off at my local gluten-free bakery to pick up a pizza crust. I promised Kat, back when she was in town for the Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon that I’d bring her one of Annie May’s Sweet Café’s amazing gluten-free pizza crusts. And…while we were there, Cathy and I each ordered a sandwich to go to eat in the car on the way up to Jenn’s. We might have also picked up one of her vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip cookies too. Maybe. Anyway, this plan to grab dinner worked out perfectly. An Annie May’s sandwich might be a new travel after work tradition.
Soon, we were on the road and making good time up to Columbus, Ohio. As we came through Cincinnati, Ohio, I asked Cathy if we were going to stop soon because the unsweetened iced tea and the water I had with dinner had gone right through me and I “really needed to pee.” TMI? Nah. Anyway, she said we’d stop at somewhere up the road…which turned into about an hour wait. Seriously. The information center she had wanted to stop at was closed…and already way further than I had hoped to go before I got my break. So…I was not happy. We finally pulled over at a gas station on the exit you would take if you were going to the Ohio Renaissance Festival. I went inside the BP and took care of business, only to be interrupted by a woman pounding on the door, declaring she had an emergency. Um…yeah…kinda busy…gotta wait. I peed as fast as I could…but she kept pounding and pissing me off. Do NOT piss off a runner who has been tapering. I washed my hands and hurried out of the bathroom, having her blow past me like I was doing it on purpose. UGH!! People suck.
Back on the road…and no more stops until we hit Jenn’s house somewhere around 9 p.m. Cathy and I changed out into more comfortable clothes and then we settled in to talk a bit and eat Jenn’s infamous (but to me it’s famous) Pink Salad. Mmmmm…just what I needed. Hit the freakin’ spot. I knew I needed to get up around 4 a.m. to do a shakeout run, stretch, shower, eat breakfast, and get out of the door in a timely manner to continue the journey up to Buffalo, New York on Saturday morning…so we were turning in earlier than normal.
My alarm went off at 4 a.m. and I immediately dropped my iPhone before I could turn it off. Whoops. I got up and got changed into my running clothes and headed out Jenn’s garage to do 3 very easy miles as a shakeout before my drive up for the marathon. I forgot that Jenn’s roads have storm drains in the center of the road, so those were some fun obstacles at first. HAHA! I finally just got off to the side, and ran a loop around her inner circle until I hit my miles for the day. I actually did it faster than I intended or felt like I was running…so my legs were definitely feeling good. I ducked back inside, shed the reflective gear and went to do my stretching. Jenn came down as I was finishing that up. And soon I was headed up to shower, wake up Cathy, and we were settling in for some gluten-free bagels for breakfast. Topped off with a Garlic and Herb cream cheese of deliciousness. It was like eating garlic bread. The car was loaded back up and we piled in…heading out for the long road to Buffalo, New York.
I was already tired from not sleeping much, so Jenn passed my pillow up and I dozed up until we made our first stop to put in some gas. There was a nice Starbucks attached to the gas station, so we all got one of their refreshers…mine…the Cool Lime (YUMMY!) before piling back into the car and making our way up to Erie, Pennsylvania. That was going to be our stop for lunch. Back when I ran the Hershey Half Marathon, we found a place called Picasso’s to eat dinner at on our way back to Jenn’s. They specialize in very unique sandwiches…and we fell in love with them. This was our lunch destination…and we got there just after they opened. We each got a sandwich and drink and settled in at a table. My Gluten-Free Venus de Milo Sandwich was fantastic. It was a combination of hummus, onions, baby spinach, tomato, muffaletta spread, carrots, avocado, and a roasted red pepper mayo, toasted on gluten-free bread (in the oven to keep it from being cross-contaminated). Seriously…delicious. Then, we ducked over to Wegmans (an awesome grocery store for those not familiar) to grab a few necessities for Sunday…like bananas and water and watermelon. Then…back on the road. Next stop…the Hyatt Regency Buffalo (the host hotel) where we were staying.
I had hoped to meet up with both Kat and Janelle at the the expo, but Kat was there earlier in the day and Janelle, honestly, was leaving as I was pulling in. Dang it. I was seeing Kat later that evening for dinner, but Janelle was not going to be able to make it. So, we all planned to meet up on Sunday morning with the 4 hour pace group. Deal. We pulled into the hotel and valet parked the car, hauling our stuff inside. I went to check in, and as I was running the marathon was gifted with a bottle of Gatorade. I signed a sneaker with how many marathons I had run and my best finishing time, was given two keys to the room (I gave them to Jenn and Cathy to handle…I am a zen runner on race weekends and want no responsibilities). We took our stuff up to the hotel room to drop it off and then headed out to walk through the walkways from the hotel to the expo center. Weirdly enough, there were no signs really directing anyone to where to find the expo…so we randomly followed some people and ended up making our way there. Let’s hear it for the blind leading the visually challenged!
Bart Yasso and me at the Buffalo Marathon Expo – Buffalo, New York
The expo was small. We stepped inside and I got in line to get a plastic bag that contained some race information and my safety pins. From there, I had to wind my way through the vendors and other races there to find the tables in the back where packet pickup was happening. I went over to the side for the marathon (there is also a 5K and a half marathon), and gave my name. The teenager behind the table looked me up, grabbed my race bib and race shirt and passed it over to me. I thanked him, tucked it into the plastic bag and went to meet Jenn and Cathy over at the BondiBand table. HA! They knew I’d want to make a stop there. We didn’t spend too long digging through the BondiBands as I own most of them (it’s a sickness…I know!)…but I found two that fit my personality and I ended up getting those. It’s tradition! You never break tradition. We wound our way back through, stopping off at a few interesting sounding races…all of which are on weekends that don’t work for me…this year…and ended up at Bart Yasso’s talk.
I LOVE Bart Yasso and really want to incorporate the Yasso 800’s into my training…eventually. We listened to him talk, and when he finished up, I went to see if he would sign my book (I brought it with me!) and maybe get a picture with him. There wasn’t a long line…and before long I was up there and talking with him. He remembered me from Facebook (HA!) and just asked if I spelled Karen with a “K.” That was awesome. He was very kind and wrote me a nice message before taking a picture with me and wishing me luck on Sunday. With that…we made our way out of the expo and back to our hotel room, where we crashed until about 4:15 p.m., watching Food Network (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives was on, followed by Guy’s Grocery Games). I took the time to do my evening stretches and some foam rolling so I wouldn’t have to worry about it after dinner and could focus more on getting race morning stuff together and getting to bed at a decent time.
All that did get accomplished before we headed back out to the streets of Buffalo and walked to our dinner destination, Merge, located on Delaware Avenue. We were early. The restaurant hadn’t even opened yet. But, we knew that would probably be the case. We left early to give us time to get lost and all. But at the first sense of us not knowing which way to go, Cathy asked the valet guys and we were immediately on track without the whole wander around town mess. Love nipping something in the bud. At 5 p.m., Kat and Adam (Kat’s boyfriend) arrived and we went inside for our dinner reservation. We were immediately seated and asked if we wanted something other than water to drink. I don’t do anything but water these days as it is…so I stuck with that. Then…it was menu time. I had looked at this menu DOZENS of times before…and I knew there was a gluten-free and vegan pizza option. That’s my traditional food before a race…but there were so many enticing dishes on this menu that I couldn’t get anywhere else…and I get good gluten-free pizza in Louisville. SO…now I was waffling on what I wanted for dinner and everyone else was ready. With the assistance of the waiter, I bucked tradition again and went with the Gluten-Free and Vegan Arugula Pesto Pasta, which was a basic brown rice fusilli pasta with local tomato, red onion, spinach and tossed with toasted walnuts. It was as amazing as it looked. Got a Gluten-Free and Vegan Chocolate Mousse with Spiced Berry Compote for dessert, which I split with Cathy. All of us talked for awhile, not much about running but about other stuff, until we were told they needed the table. So, with that, we parted ways. Cathy, Jenn and I walked back to the hotel room. and I changed into my pajamas, brushed my teeth, put out my race clothes for the morning, plugged in my Garmin to charge, set the two wake-up alarms, and then…went to bed.
My first alarm got me up and I went through my routine before hitting the sack again for another hour. The second alarm rang and I was up and into the bathroom to change into my race gear. I had opted for a tank top, despite the 47 degree weather that morning. I had my homemade arm warmers for the start, figuring I’d shed them sometime in the race. My running skirt, my CEP calf sleeves, my Newton’s. I was ready to run. I put on my sunscreen and got my “epic race hair” done up before stretching. Jenn woke up just before I was to wake up both her and Cathy to get ready…so I just needed to worry about getting Cathy moving. I woke her up and then settled in to eat my cereal (a pre-race tradition for EVERY race). I took my time, relaxed, and occupied my mind with things other than the race. Both Cathy and Jenn grabbed the free granola from the expo and got something in their stomachs and soon, I was grabbing my banana and we were heading down to the lobby and outside to the starting area.
The start area hadn’t been opened to the runners in the full or half marathon yet…so everyone was sort of behind a barrier on the other side of the street. I saw pacers walk by and really wanted to go find my girls, but Cathy was like…”Um…good luck with that!” Which, sort of annoyed me so I was in a huff when the starting area was finally opened. But, she called me back and I settled down. I got hugs and was told to have a good race. Jenn told me that “The Power of Dean [Karnazes] Compelled Me” and not to “pants my poop.” This is tradition. It has to happen. With that, I left them to go find a spot near the start line and I went to hopefully find Janelle (who I hadn’t met yet in person) and Kat.
Kat (green arm warmers), Me, and Janelle (pink shirt) heading out at the start of the Buffalo Marathon – Buffalo, New York (Photo Credit: Jennifer Mariani)
Janelle found me, actually…which was awesome. We were about 15 minutes away from race time. I was so happy to see her. She looked rested and ready to run. Perfect. I asked if she had seen Kat…and she hadn’t. But a few minutes later, miss Bright Green Arm Warmers was at our sides. We attempted to do some stretching in the start area but it was really crowded and moving around was not much of an option. Kat was talking to pretty much everyone…because I really think she knows everyone in Buffalo…and we did our best to keep our legs loose and limber in the chilly morning air. I pointed out that the girl in front of me had her shirt on inside out and we agreed that if it wasn’t three minutes to start time, we might have informed her…but it was too late now. The National Anthem was sung…and we were right in line with the 4-hour pace group. Right where I wanted to start. One moment later…runners were off. And we were making the march toward the start line. Kat doesn’t like to start running until she crosses that mat, so we kept a fast walk until we hit that start gate…and we were off. I spotted Cathy and Jenn immediately, flashed a peace sign…and fell into pace.
Janelle, Me, and Kat love seeing familiar faces around Mile 6.3 in the Buffalo Marathon – Buffalo, New York
We stayed behind the pace group for the first mile, wanting to make sure we didn’t have the “fly and die” technique…wanting to go into this easy and work our way up. Kat and Janelle both liked this plan and that was what we worked at doing. But somewhere before we hit Mile 2, we got ahead of the pace group. I asked my girls how they felt about pace, and both agreed it was good. I told them that whenever they wanted to back off, just to say the word and we would. So, Kat did that every now and again, terrified of going out too fast and wanting to have that 4 hour pace group not too much behind or ahead of us at any time. As both seemed comfortable…we continued on. We hit that 5K mark feeling strong, and I once again checked on the pace. We backed it off a little per Kat’s request and continued on. I ditched my arm warmers somewhere around here as well. HA! Looking at my Garmin…we actually were keeping a very level, even pace for a good stretch of this race. It was awesome. It felt good. We all felt good. Kat gave me a bit of a tour as we were running, as this is where she grew up. I’m a history buff, so I found every bit of this fascinating. And…it made the miles fly by without us really paying attention to them at all. Before we knew it, we were at the 10K mark…feeling good. We rounded a corner, and Kat spotted Adam and went over to see him, but he told her to keep going as she was right on pace. And just a few feet up…was Cathy and Jenn. I spotted the donkey sign! I gave a big wave and a smile. It’s always nice to see familiar faces during a race…and we were only 1/4 of the way done. But…we were feeling amazing. So, on we went.
We kept this great pace (just under sub-9) up through the LaSalle Park area. We hit the waterfront, where the road narrowed quite a bit. The slow-up was welcome though…so we took the break and eased our way through the crowds. The waterfront was gorgeous! Honestly. I loved running this part of the race. Great breeze. Great views. The lake was stunning. We knew as we were going to be leaving the waterfront that photographers were stationed. And we spotted them up ahead. The three of us raised our arms for the shot…and that was when some jackass pushed Kat. Like…literally pushed her. RUDE! So, not sure how that shot is going to turn out. Asshat. We had now hit the 15K mark…and all of us were still feeling good and strong. My girls were rockstars! I asked about pace every now and again, wanting them to feel comfortable with it…and so far, they were.
Janelle, Me, and Kat at the 13.1 mile point of the Buffalo Marathon! Feeling strong. Looking strong!
Kat continued her guided tour as we ran around the Erie Basin Marina and back into town. She was elated when she noticed the course was going to take us past the First Niagara Center, where the Buffalo Sabers play hockey. She has season tickets…so she was glad the new course still ran past there. The sun was up now and there were no clouds in the sky. None. So it was warming up fast. We came through town, loving the shade that the buildings provided, but the heat was there. We hit the halfway point…and were pleasantly surprised to see both Jenn and Cathy standing right at the 13.1 marker to cheer us on. We were powering through that first half, maintaining a relatively even pace…backing off where necessary…and feeling awesome. We were just where we needed to be…right in between the 3:50:00 pacers and the 4-hour pace group. We were right on target.
But as we headed a few miles further in, the heat started to really affect Kat. She came to a walk on a hill around Mile 15, taking out her inhaler. We were ahead of schedule and the walk break was a welcome one on the hill, and once she fueled and took in some liquid, we were back on our way. We knocked out another mile back on our pace, but the 4-hour pace group had caught up to us. We decided to run just behind them for a little while. Good strategy. But as we came into Mile 16, going into 17…Kat slowed again and the pace group moved ahead. She was getting angry and frustrated with herself, but we were still ahead of the pace group so that was of some help to get her focused again. The fuel belt she was wearing wasn’t sitting right on her body, so Janelle asked if she wanted to try holding her bottle with Nuun in it and ditching the belt with her husband at Mile 17. Kat agreed so Janelle ran up ahead to find her husband, dump water out of one of her bottles, and get one ready for Kat. Kat was really struggling here and as we walked a bit through Mile 16.55, with her in tears and angry at having to walk, one of the volunteers checked to make sure she was okay, letting us know where we were in the race and asking if she needed any sort of attention. She waved him off and we both thanked him, and when we hit some road signs, we started to pick up the pace again, maintaining that until we met up with Janelle and her husband near Mile 17. We changed out the fuel pack for the handheld water and we were back on our way.
We were now in Delaware Park, which would last for a mile, where we then would enter back onto the streets and re-enter the park around Mile 20.5. As we were heading up the hill, Kat went to fuel with her Craisins. But they didn’t stay down. The heat was really getting to her…as she hadn’t had warm weather this year to train in. Buffalo was 40 degrees all day on Friday…and Saturday was slightly warmer, but with a cool breeze that made it feel cooler. We had a slight breeze, but the air was hot and the sun was relentless. Kat handed me the handheld bottle and tried to fuel again, this time to keep it down. I gave her one of my bottles on my fuel belt that had water inside. She took it…and this time…it all stayed down. She asked if I was okay holding onto the handheld bottle for her…and I said that was fine. Mind you, I hate running with things in my hands, but this was definitely more important. And…it would help me keep a steadier pace for Kat. But then the 4:10 pace group past and I saw that fight go out of her. She felt defeated, but I did what I could to get her to press on. We could at least try for her next goal of a PR. We came out of the park and it was a run walk method, with Janelle and I just wanting to keep Kat going. Finally, Janelle said she was starting to hurt, so she was going to put on her headphones and head for the finish line. We had tried to get her to do that earlier…but she stuck it out with us for some of it, even giving up her sub-4 finish to make sure Kat was okay. But we wished her luck and sent her on, telling her to let Cathy and Jenn know that we would be behind her.
I did my best to keep Kat going. The heat was really doing a number on her. She was getting dizzy and suffering from a headache. In addition, she said at some points she felt like she was going to pass out. I didn’t want that to happen, so I told her to walk when she needed. We were coming up around Mile 20 when one lone woman was standing on the road, shouting support to everyone. She saw Kat, who was crying, and honed in on her. It made me smile when I heard her say to Kat…”I see you, 890! You look so strong. Come on 890…you can do this. Push through, 890! I know you can do this. I know you want to run.” Kat started crying more, but this time tears of happiness, and her pace…picked up. It was the push she needed…from a random stranger. And as she ran up the hill…the woman said, “That’s it 890! Keep going!!” and other inspiring and motivating words. She was a rockstar. And, honestly, was able to do what I couldn’t. As we came back into Delaware Park, Kat said she had to use the bathroom and maybe that would help. The problem was…there were no port-a-potties on the course winding through the park. So, it was run, walk, run…until we were heading out of the park where there were some port-a-potties. Luckily one was not in use. I waited on the corner while she ducked into one. A minute later, we were back on the road and back to running. She felt better. And we now had just over 4 more miles to go. We were getting there. When the 4:20 pace group passed, she started crying again. And…she handed over her Garmin, saying she didn’t want it on anymore. Is trapped it onto my wrist and we moved on. It was better this way. She had been so focused on that pace and now…her disappointment was setting in. I kept assuring her that her primary goal was to finish…and I was going to get her to that line.
With only a few miles left, we were determined to go without stopping. Kat was determined now, despite the heat. She was sweating out salt, so I was trying to get her to take in as much water and electrolytes as possible. Her compression socks were starting to bother her, so she stopped to roll them down. Only, that felt worse as we started up again, so she pulled them back up. We ran and walked for the next few miles, doing what she needed. I pushed her here and there, telling her what landmarks we would hit and start jogging and picking up the pace…easing back into it. She listened to me…and did as I said…and she’d slow and walk when she needed to. Around Mile 24, she was done with the compression socks. So she pulled over to the side of the road and sat down, taking off her shoes and removing the socks. I ended up tying them to my fuel belt and she put her shoes back on and decided to finish the race without socks on. I told her she’d blister…and she said blisters already happened. Might as well be comfortable. A woman who was cheering on runners across the street asked if she was okay…and we said she was…and within moments, she was back on her feet and we were heading down into the next mile…slapping hands with college boys at the water stop. We walked a bit coming into Mile 25 and I could hear that crowd ahead. The finish line was getting closer. We picked it up…we backed it off…we walked when she needed it. She finished off her Nuun…she took in one last water stop…and we pressed on…walking to the edge of a building I pointed out…and then picking up that pace. We were in the home stretch and she was going to run it in.
We had made a deal to cross that finish line together. I was wrapped up in the excitement and my finisher’s kick was already there. She called me back, saying she wasn’t ready yet. She wanted to see that finish line. So…I fell back and we rounded through Niagara Square. And then…there it was…the finisher’s chute! We picked up our pace and sprinted…as fast as our legs could go. As we neared that finish line, we took each other’s hands…and crossed together. It was…by far…one of the most rewarding and memorable finishes I have had in my life. We hugged tightly and I told her how proud I was of her. And we moved out of the way so that she could try to catch her breath, regain her strength…get her medal…and get some ice from the medical tent.
Kat, Me, and Janelle proudly displaying our finisher’s medals at the finish of the Buffalo Marathon – Buffalo, New York. So proud of these ladies!
After snagging an ice pack to put on the back of her neck, we headed back out, retrieving Mylar blankets and started down the chute. She spotted Adam and her mom and went to talk to them for a moment. And then…we went to get our picture taken for finishing. We moved further down the chute, retrieving water bottles and any snacks needed. She snagged an orange…good choice. And then we met up with Janelle, Cathy, Jenn, Janelle’s husband, Janelle’s dog (Domino), and Adam and Kat’s mom at the very end. We stood around talking for a little while and snapped a picture of the three of us with our medals. But then I needed to get up to the hotel room to shower off and change (as they were not allowing any late check-outs. Nope. Not at the host hotel!). Kat came with us because I forgot to give her the pizza the night before…and she changed while I went to shower. Cathy and Jenn packed everything up and when I stepped out of the shower…we were ready to head out.
Hugs all around and we were off.
So…my official results for the Buffalo Marathon are that I finished in a time of 4:32:44 (gun time) and 4:31: 36 (chip time) (for 26.49 miles). I was 832/1287 finishers overall. I was the 311/548 women to cross the finish line. And I was 64/108 in my age division. I can honestly say that this was the first time I ever crossed the finish line carrying more gear than I left with. HA! First time for everything!
Yes…there was a twinge of disappointment that came with this finish. But it wasn’t with the finishing time. It was watching a goal slip away from a good friend of mine, who worked her ass off to achieve it. Her body wasn’t ready for the heat, as she hadn’t trained in it yet. There were a few other factors as well. And the relentless sun did her in that day. But…she was not defeated. No matter how she felt, no matter how much she wanted to collapse and give up…she didn’t. Kat is a fighter. She’s strong and determined and stubborn as hell. And every time she fell back…I saw that flame in her eyes spark up…and she’d start to move again. There were plenty of tears shed at goals that weren’t reached, but ultimately, she proved not only her strength and her determination, but her worth out there on that course. I was so proud of her at that finish line. There was nowhere else I wanted to be than at her side that entire race, seeing her push through her own doubts. She is a fighter and she fought for this finish. She gave everything she had to reach that finish line. She finished strong. And every ounce of me has been inspired by her sheer determination and will to push through and see herself to that finish line. Her original goals fell to the wayside…but she finished. And ultimately...it’s not about finish times…it’s about finish lines. So often, as runners, we put so much emphasis on a new PR, a better time, faster, better, perfection. Those are all nice to accomplish and to have as goals, but we get so focused on that and sometimes we lose the actual joy of the run. We forget to have some fun. To enjoy it. To just take it in. When Kat crossed her finish line that morning…and when I gave her a tight hug, I told her just how proud I was of her. I still am. Best finish for me…ever.
Thank you, Kat…for inspiring me to push on when my self-doubts want me to stop. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. This is one race I will always point to and say…”She wanted to give up…but she never did.” For that…you are more than an inspiration. You’re my hero!
When you can’t walk, you crawl. When you can’t do that, you find someone to carry you. – Firefly
Me sprinting to the finish line at the Geist Half Marathon – Fishers, Indiana
Race: Geist Half Marathon
Place: Fishers, Indiana
Date: May 17, 2014
Time:1:38:52
NEW. HALF. MARATHON. PR.
F*CK YEAH!
Okay…so it was a PR by 8 seconds, but that’s still a PR. And given the fact that I wasn’t pushing or truly giving my all on this race and course since I’m racing again next weekend…well…this was a surprise. A very happy, welcome, great surprise. Especially since this course was quite hilly. Hilly enough that my calf muscles protested every single one of them.
Note to self…hill work is a must!!
But, once again, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning of this journey…
Friday. I did a short shake-out run that morning…1 mile…in the pouring rain…because…it rained on me after I headed out on the run and at that point…I was out and wet. I then…stupidly…went to my spin class. I did not put on my heavy heavy when we were told to take it to heavy…so, that counted for something, yes? After that…a long day at the office…and finally got let loose a little early…just past 3:30 to start on the journey up to Fishers, IN…north of Indianapolis.
The car ride took forever! Seriously. First…storms. Dark clouds…rain…apparently Indianapolis had hail. The area the race was happening on Saturday morning was getting marble size hail. Because when I race…I bring the storms. Every…freakin’…time! Anyway…the weather put us a little behind…but so did the traffic! GOD…the traffic! Apparently people panic when it rains up there because we saw so many accidents. Some were roll-overs. Some were just one-car things. Some two-car things. All of them…pissing me off because it was keeping me from picking up my packet and getting to food and my friend Julia…who was meeting up with us for dinner.
UGH! But, we made it to St. Vincent Fishers Hospital. The packet pickup was being held in the visitor’s waiting area near the food court. I posed for a picture by the banner outside and then headed in. This race never has much of an expo…so this was going to be a quick stop. I think we were there for a grand total of 5 minutes. Just long enough for me to walk up to a table, get my bib and long sleeve tech shirt, check my timing chip, pick up a poster (that has my name on it!), and leave. The rain cleared up for a moment, but it was definitely chilly out. I already knew from checking the weather that race morning was getting an unseasonably cold 39°F temperature. Usually this race has killer heat…so this was different.
So…it was off to dinner. Julia was already at the restaurant with a table…and we were 10 minutes away. Except 10 minutes took 30 minutes because of traffic issues and accidents on I-69. We learned…never take I-69. HAHA!! Thanks for the tip, Julia! But…we arrived at Rockstone Pizzeria and Pub in Fishers and found Julia at the table in the bar. As we settled in, a table in the back stood up and I spotted Laura, Tammy, and Mike from my running group!! YAY!! We talked for a moment…and they headed out. It was now 7 p.m…a full hour after I would normally have wanted to eat…but that’s life for you. We placed our orders, all getting the Vava Veggie Pizza (mine was gluten-free…hers was not). The pizza was good. Cathy and I split mine because I really wanted some gelato for dessert…but in the end, as it was now past 8 p.m…decided against it. I was bummed. But…race was important. We talked some more with Julia, but around 8:30 p.m…we headed out. I needed to pick up a banana for race morning and get to the hotel to get stuff ready. And I was hoping to be in bed by 9 p.m. that night, but with all the delays…I hit the bed around 10:30 p.m. And then slept like hell.
My first alarm went off and I got up to shut it off and do my first morning ritual on race day. Then, back to bed for an hour. The second alarm went off and I was up to get changed, put on some sunscreen, and get my stretching in. At 5:30 a.m., I woke up Cathy and finished up with doing my traditional race hair and eating some gluten-free cereal for breakfast. I took in some water, took my vitamins, and then got pinned up and ready to run. We left the hotel room…and went back for the bananas…then left again and headed out to the high school where we chose to park the car.
Chris and me at the start line of the Geist Half Marathon – Fishers, Indiana
On the way, I was messaging back and forth with my friend Chris from a running group I belong to. He and his girlfriend, Becca, were running Geist on a last-minute decision. Awesome. We were planning on meeting up. He said he’d look for my “race hair” (HAHA!) and I told him that I was dressed as Wonder Woman…so he said he’d look for a superhero. Chris is truly this awesome.
Cathy and I parked and started the mile walk from the parking lot to the starting line. I kept looking in the groups of runners walking that way for Chris…but never spotted him. At 7 a.m., I broke out my second breakfast…my pre-race banana…and that was when he found me. HUGS ALL AROUND! And photos. We talked for a few minutes and then he and Becca headed back further in the corral line-up. The announcement was made that the start of the race was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, which turned out to be a woman who was running the half marathon and on her way to the start, running in a crosswalk…when she was struck by one of the buses that was acting as a shuttle that morning. It happened at 6 a.m….and the race course hadn’t been cleared yet.
But, once the go-ahead was given, opening ceremonies began. The national anthem was sung beautifully and really set the tone of the race. I shed my hoodie and passed it off to Cathy, who went to find a spot on the other side of the start line…and I shivered for a little while and made new friends, as I always do. Everyone was so nice!
And…a moment later…we were off to the races!! Instead of a staggered start time for the half marathon and the 5K, this year, the Geist races began at the same time…on different sides of the road. I headed out, crossing the start mat and getting into a groove. I saw Cathy, waiving my sign and cheering me on, so I flashed a peace sign…and carried on. The first mile had a lot of people…but not too bad since I was up near the front. This was the first trip across the bridge…and I had two children running the half (boys!) who were trash talking their 5K friends. Acting all tough. And then I hear, “I have a cramp.” Followed by “Let’s not talk as much…” And then I moved past that disaster waiting to happen. Mile 1…and I feel a tap…and turn to find Tammy!! TAMMY!! Tammy is awesome…fresh off a fast (and Boston Qualifying) marathon in Fargo the weekend before. She ran with me for a mile before she said she was dropping off the pace because she said she wasn’t going to race this one. Crazy girl still came in 3rd in her division…and not long after I finished either. Drop off the pace, my booty! I want to be Tammy when I grow up!
So, I was out on the course now on my own, runners beside me, runners in front of me, and runners behind me. I was taking it all in. We were now in a small neighborhood and people, despite the cold air, came out to cheer at the end of their driveways. As I rounded the corner, I got my first WONDER WOMAN shout out…and then the woman started doing the Batman music. That made me giggle. I knew this part of the course. It was the 5K course all the other times I ran this race (I did the 5K twice before…but not the half marathon. Nice change!). So, as we headed across the reservoir, I got a shout out from the photographer. Also was told I had the best running outfit ever. HA!
So…the race turned out to be a challenging one. This was a brand new course for the Geist Half Marathon, making the 5K and the half marathon an out and back instead of a point-to-point as it had been in the past. NICE! But, with this new course came some new challenges. Those are called hills. And those hills are what I need to really work on this coming summer. And not just talk about it…do it.
The first part of the race had some minor climbs…but after I hit the halfway point, that’s where the challenging hills really came into play. I took in some fuel, even though I didn’t think I needed it (trying to get back into good habits!), at the halfway mark and continued on. My legs were really fighting the hills. They slowed me down because my calf muscles wanted to protest every climb. But…I had a goal…and that was to try to keep as even a pace as possible on this run…even with all the hills.
TONS more shout outs for my Wonder Woman outfit happened along the way, and I soaked up the atmosphere, the beautiful surroundings, and just the feel of the race. My hands were so cold that it was hard for me to hang onto the water bottles from my fuel belt, but…again…trying to get back into good habits…I made sure to hydrate throughout. Even if it took some effort to get the bottles back into my fuel belt. My hands don’t work well when they are cold. In fact…they don’t work at all. And I didn’t think to pack gloves…because…it’s May…
Mile 10 came into view and I was still feeling good. The legs were still feeling strong. And I knew I was a 5K away from my finish. I was happy with the way I was feeling…challenged for one thing…but not tired. I came into a turn at Mile 11 and was sent up a hill in through another neighborhood. That hill slowed me down a little, but I powered up it, feeling it in my calf muscles. But as I crested it and hit a flat road, the legs adjusted and I kept on. Mile 12….another trek over the reservoir. I had been hearing tales of the “hill at the end” and wasn’t sure what to expect.
It was…KILLER! I thought Chicago was evil for putting a hill at Mile 26 of the marathon. This was the half marathon equivelent. Not only do you climb this hill…you then round a corner and the finish line is right ahead. So, with legs screaming at me…I got up the incline and took the turn…and there it was…the finish.
With no clock. I had no idea what my time was. Not at all. Yes…I know I was wearing a watch…but I never glance at it. If I pay attention to my pace, I struggle. When I am a zen runner…I do better. That’s just how it works for me. I saw Cathy screaming at me and I put on my barely-there kick to get across that finish line. I passed the photographers (who were all shouting WONDER WOMAN!) and paused my Garmin. Since there was no race clock, I glanced down…and saw 1:38:and change!
Cathy came over to the rail and I said, “Um…I PR’d.” She didn’t seem surprised at all. This was the second time in as many weeks to PR in a race. And both times, I wasn’t trying. I wasn’t setting out to PR. I was just running. I do better when I “just run” for enjoyment and all. Seriously. It’s when I start to put pressure on myself that things go to hell. I should really focus on the joy of the run more often than the competitive part.
So…I headed into the recovery area. There was a power outage at the results tent, so it wasn’t going to be set up. We meandered about for a moment, and as we turned around, I saw Laura, who had just finished up. We talked about the run…and the evil hills…and took a picture together. Then, she and Mike went to walk around and Cathy and I went to do the same. We were waiting on result times so I could get an official time. But it was taking awhile. So…I got a post-race massage! And it was awesome. My massage therapist was a really nice guy who thought I had a fantastic time for the half marathon. He asked about my upcoming races…and I told him about them and he said that if I wanted a traveling personal massage therapist…he’d love for me to hire him. HA! After my massage, I hopped down and went to find Cathy again before we wandered off for a little more. I did notice that the jeweler in the recovery area was doing medal engraving for $9,95…so we thought we’d do that when they opened. Why not?
Me striking a pose with my finisher’s medal after a fantastic race at the Geist Half Marathon – Fishers, Indiana
Results finally posted after many times of scanning my bib. It showed my official time and I was THRILLED! A new PR!! The jewelry store opened early and we went in to see about getting my medal done. They asked for my results, and I said the results tent was down and no slips were printed. This was aggravating…so he went to pull the results up online. It took some time to find the page, but he did…and found me. The race was still running, so my overall status would stand, but the number of finishers was still unknown at this time. He said that he could at least engrave my name and finishing time…and he’d do it for free. AWESOME! He said to give him 15 minutes, so we went to walk around a little bit more and stretch out the legs. We picked up my medal and took the hike back to the car…then…drove back to the hotel so I could take a nice hot shower. We left the hotel and went to my required stop for lunch…Cheeseburger in Paradise…because I can get a gluten-free veggie burger on a gluten-free bun…with gluten-free fries. I devoured the entire plate. HA!
So, the official results of the Geist Half Marathon was that I finished in 1:38:52, setting a new half marathon PR for myself. Thrilled! I was 87/1506 finishers overall. That’s amazing! I was 14/703 women to cross the finish line. And I was 4/??? (the race results don’t have the divisions for female up…just division female) in my age division. If they ever get that posted, I’ll put in the number. FOURTH! That’s fantastic, I think. I was beyond proud of these results. I mean…it was hilly and cold (two of my least favorite things!), and I was focused more on keeping an even pace (THAT…was a success) than my finish time. And BAM…magic! Even better…my distance was actually 13.24…which means I PR’d running past the half marathon mileage. I need to take corners tighter! So happy!
I am starting to feel so much more confident and better about my running after these last two weekends of running. I’m coming back…and coming back strong.
I definitely would love to run this race again! I love running Geist. Third year back…first time doing the half. BOOM!
Me crossing the finish line of the Throo The Zoo 5K – Louisville, Kentucky
Race: Throo The Zoo 5K
Place: Louisville Zoo, Louisville, Kentucky
Date: May 10, 2014
Time:23:45
Less than 12 hours after arriving back at home from the Pro.Active For Life 5K in Frankfort, Kentucky, I was awake, dressed in running clothes once again, and heading out the door to run another 5K. Hi…I might be addicted to racing…again! HAHA!!
My legs were feeling a little tired, but good when I woke up early that morning so I could get in my physical therapy leg stretches prior to the race. I also brewed up a cup of coffee because…I gotta have my coffee. It’s required. Anyway, I stretched and enjoyed a leisurely morning…listening to the sound of the rain outside.
Wait…
Rain.
Dammit.
Ugh.
But…after eating some cereal and finishing the race prep stuff, there was a lull in the precipitation. I threw on a rain jacket though and Cathy and I headed back out to hop in the car and make our way to the Louisville Zoo…for another one of the races I seem to have a habit of running…the Throo The Zoo 5K.
The drive over was uneventful and rather easy. And, for once, we weren’t stuck in the long line of cars streaming into the zoo. Nope. Not this time. Cathy went some back way into the Louisville Zoo…and that worked like a charm. We were into the zoo and parked without any problems. As we got out of the car to find packet pickup…the rain kicked in again. We donned our hoods on our rain jackets and made our way toward the zoo entrance, where packet pickup was happening at some tables that were under cover.
Packet pickup was a breeze. I got my race bib and some safety pins at one table and then was sent over to another table to get my t-shirt. The shirt this year was light blue with a white tiger on it. LOVE! Cathy and I then walked back toward the car to toss the t-shirt in there and get me pinned up. Now, normally I would have just sat in the car for a little while and waited on the rain, which was now falling harder to pass…but this, apparently, wasn’t even crossing Cathy’s mind. She pinned me up and was up and walking toward where the start of the race was going to be. There were some tents set up…for Whole Foods (who were dishing up yogurt, berry & granola parfaits), and McDonalds (they had apple slices) and a table with bananas…and the Fleet Feet tent…which was PACKED with people. Cathy and I ducked under a tree…which wasn’t keeping us dry. And that’s when the lightning started. I made some comment about not being under trees during lightning and she got all miffy at me for the comment and…then Fleet Feet’s tent cleared out momentarily…so we ducked under that.
I spotted Laura and Mike from my local running group, as they took cover under the Whole Foods tent. The starting line was still being inflated, but the lightning was very active. Finally, as people started to line up at the start…the announcement came that the race would be delayed for 30 minutes. If there was still lightning, they would make the call on whether the race would be cancelled and rescheduled. After all, the zoo had to open and all at some point.
So, Cathy and I moved over to the Whole Foods tent to talk with Laura and Mike while we waited the official word from the organizers. I always like hanging out with these two. They are so much fun. Anyway…the lightning did stop soon after the race was delayed…and with the rain lightening up, Mike and Laura decided to try to get a light run in prior to the race. So, they headed out.
The announcement came that the race was going ahead, so I got out from under the tent and stepped into the rain. I kept my rain jacket on until about 5 minutes before the official start…maybe closer to 2 minutes…I won’t lie. Finally, I shed it, stepped away from my roomie and got into the starting line. I wasn’t up front, but I wasn’t too far behind it either. I knew my legs were shot from not only spin class on Friday, but also my hard race through Frankfort (with my new 5K PR!), Kentucky the night before. This wasn’t going to be a speedy 5K, but I was going to get these legs moving the best I could. We were all awaiting the horn to send us on our way…in the rain…and through the zoo.
That came soon after…and we were off.
Now, in the two previous years I have run the Throo The Zoo 5K, the course has been mostly through the surrounding streets and neighborhoods, with the last bit going into the zoo, and up Gorilla Hill, before sending us out of the zoo and around to the finish. So, usually it was maybe about the last mile and a half or something. But this year…they changed the course again and MOST of the race was actually done…inside the zoo. This made me so stupidly and incredibly happy.
The start of the race was damp, but we went out fast. I eased up immediately, knowing that my legs were already feeling the night before. But, I pressed on, because I was going to still take this as a challenge. This was not a course to PR on, because there would be narrow areas where only a few people could be across…and some steep inclines to deal with as well. This wasn’t a PR attempt for me, so I was okay with that. The first part of the race happened on the neighborhood roads, for less than half a mile. Then we made a left turn to enter through the back part of the zoo. Mike was standing on the corner cheering as I ran past. That was awesome. Into the zoo I went…where I encountered something akin to mud running. The path was a complete mess…mud everywhere. I was sad that I wore my new compression sleeves because I could feel the mud being kicked up on them already. Ah well…part of being a runner, I suppose. At least I wore my old Newton’s and not my new ones for my shoes that morning.
The next half mile was spent in the zoo itself. I could see quite a few animals as I ran past, which only made me smile. At Mile 1, we left the zoo to wind our way through a couple of the parking lots, past a water station, and then just after Mile 1.5…go back into the zoo for the next mile and a half. This was fun! I loved the variety of animals and the people I was running near or around. One thing that did peeve me off, however, was this dad who was running with his little girl. She was struggling and he turned around and told her that if she wanted to PR, she had to move it! She said her shoe was untied…so she stopped to tie it. I thought he was going to blow a gasket. But I ran past them and didn’t hear from them again. Who knows how that turned out.
After making a few climbs, and some downhills too, I wound my way out of the zoo, hitting Mile 3. The finish line was just ahead, so I put on the afterburners as much as I could, moving as quickly as I could to get across the line. I managed…with a much slower time that last year, indeed. By about a minute and a half. Back to back races are tough, man!
Me…all muddy and damp after the Throo The Zoo 5K – Louisville, Kentucky
Cathy came over to congratulate me and I went to snag some water from the recovery area. I had a raffle ticket to deposit at the white tent, but Cathy told me to grab water while she dropped it in. I did just that and went to find her afterwards. She wasn’t sure if I placed or not in my age group, so we decided to hang around for a little while. This turned out to be a long, long while…actually. But at least at this point it had stopped raining.
As the race was finishing up, someone did come over to the tent to remind runners to get their raffle tickets into the drawing as that would start soon. I was now getting hungry, so I snagged some apples from the McDonalds table and Cathy got a parfait to at least keep the hunger at bay before we could go get gluten-free crepes at The Flea Off Market from our favorite food truck, Sweet ‘N Savory. They called over everyone in costume for the costume contest and then began some raffle drawings.
I didn’t win. Anything.
That pretty much sums it up. Finally…it was time for some awards. YAY!
They gave away the overall female, male, master, and grandmaster awards…and then…passed it off for the costume contest. At this point, I was starving and really ready to go get some food. But, we cheered those in costume to help decide the winners. The Incredible Kermit…FTW!! And the awards then came back…and I didn’t place in my division either. So…we decided to go get some food…finally!
Except…The Flea Off Market was postponed…so instead…we went to Annie May’s Sweet Café for breakfast sandwiches and some take-n-bake cinnamon rolls and take-n-bake mac & cheese. We ate our sammies…and then headed out to do some grocery shopping and some regular shopping…while killing time. We were meeting up with my good friend, and running buddy, Kelsie, at The Comfy Cow for ice cream at 2 p.m.
Anyway…the experience and the thrill of this run was what made it. The weather didn’t even dampen my spirits too much in the end. I actually found the challenge of back-to-back 5Ks difficult…but one I was really ready to just test myself on. Since the ankle injury, I haven’t been pushing my pace or myself much on my runs. This was a way to test my will to actually push myself…at least a little.
So, the official results of the Throo The Zoo 5K is that I finished the race in 23:45. I was okay with this time. Much slower than last year, but I ran hard just over 12 hours before this one…so…yeah…this was good for me. I was 55/1252 finishers overall. I was the 14/765 female finishers. And I was 5/130 people in my age division! I’ll take that!
It’s good to be back to running races again…of varying length. The 5K distance is not my strongest race because I’m not a sprinter. But…these back-to-back 5Ks were a great challenge and a good exercise for me. I can’t wait to run Throo The Zoo again next year. Preferably without the rain.
The Celiathlete 